Single Hand Affairs Or Agendas
by hittingREFRESH
Summary: Things are always changing in the Upper East Side but what's to come will have best friends, past lovers, and even family surprised to find what is real and who they can trust. Spoilers up to Empire Of The Sun, slightly AU. DAIR & other pairings.
1. Chapter 1

This is my first GG fic, and its my second attempt at a fic in _awhile_. **Please review and let me know what you think**. It definitely will inspire me to keep writing and gage whether or not I should continue with this fic. *Spoilers up until Empire Of The Son. This is set in season 4, and is _slightly _AU. Enjoy!

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><p>The light was bright. The kind of bright that was almost too bright. It had to be from a window or a gigantic gaping hole in the earth that decided to zero in on the apartment - either way it was giving Blair Waldorf a headache. This was one of the rare times she wished she had superpowers so she could magically make her gold plated Dolce &amp; Gabana black framed sunglasses appear. A girl can dream.<p>

The long haired brunette slid her side bangs lightly away from her face and closed her eyes tight. _Superpowers? _she thought to herself. _I must be hanging out too much with - _A hand creeping around her stomach and tightening at her waist stopped her train of thought. Blair tensed at the unexpected coldness of fingers intertwining with the bottom of her t-shirt, exposing themselves to a small patch of flesh.

Blair opened her eyes and buried her face in the down pillow that felt so heavenly against her head. She braced herself for what she was about to do next. She gently pulled away the covers that were on top of her and swung one leg over her side of the bed. Just as she was about to sit up and push her feet to the ground a hand grabbed at her wrist.

"Where are you going?" the young twenty-something curly brown haired male croaked out groggily. Blair shut her eyes tightly again but opened them a fraction of a second later. "I just wanted to get my things, change into something more.. well more." she said looking down at her long t-shirt and the lack of material covering her legs. Dan Humphrey sat up on his elbows and rubbed his eyes. "You know I told you that you could borrow a pair of my sweats, I know you're not too knowledgeable of Brooklyn weather but it's hardly sweltering at night. In January."

Blair ran a finger through her hair. "Yeah well, better safe than sorry. Hives are the last thing my fair skin needs." she said getting up and touching her face before walking over to Dan's room. She treaded softly to his closet grabbing a pair of pajama bottoms that were hanging behind the closet door. She looked over to the bare spot where his bed used to sit. Then into the main room where his bed was now centered.

She came out of his room and held up the pair of sweats signaling that she was going to borrow them. Dan just nodded in affirmation. He took a moment to really open his eyes looking over to the window behind him. "Ah, that's bright." He said jerking his head the opposite direction. "I know, so much for that sweltering heat huh Humphrey?" Blair teased as she gathered her clothes from the night before and started to fold them neatly setting them inside her Chanel canvas bag. "You don't have to go, you know. I was just gonna make some coffee. I even have Hazelnut this time." Dan said from across the room, getting up and making his way into the kitchen. Blair bit her lip as she pondered whether or not staying would be a good idea.

"You can take it to go if you like?" he offered holding up a large cup and a lid. He could tell by the look on her face that she was contemplating, and most likely she was planning to bolt. "If you don't like hazelnut, I have cinnamon.." Dan pleaded teasingly giving her a slight smirk. Blair stopped what she was doing and rolled her eyes at him. "Fine, but I want hazelnut." She watched as he grabbed a bowl from the cupboard above him and filled it with cereal. She walked over to the bar stool that sat in front of the counter and took a seat. Dan started the coffee pot, then returned back to his bowl of cereal facing Blair from the other side of the counter.

"You know, I can wash your clothes from last night so you don't have to go home in my pj's. I mean, I think those are from a department store. Sears and Blair Waldorf doesn't exactly flow naturally in the same sentence." Blair looked down at her t-shirt and sweats and shuddered. "_Sears_? Really Dan? Your father married Lily Van Der woodsen, and you couldn't even make the upgrade to Macy's?" Now it was Dan's turn to roll his eyes. "Hey, they're just pajama's okay, and they were pre-Van Der woodsen. And I think it's time for you to cut me some slack and give it a rest on the fashion insults. I mean, I do know who Hugo Boss is now."

Blair stifled a grin. He had a point. His stint at _W_ served him well. He's probably the only straight man in Brooklyn who could point out a pair of_ Marc Jacobs _sling backs. "It's fine, I already called Dorota to let her know to let me in the back gate instead of the front. Last thing I need is to be _Spotted _in Dan Humphrey's gym clothes on Gossip Girl. Besides I have all my clothes dry cleaned.. and I doubt I'll run into anyone I know on my way out of_ Brooklyn_."

_Thwack!_ Was the sound of the door closing shut in the Humphrey loft. Blair looked up from her coffee to Dan, catching him as he paused mid-sip. They both tensed, either of them too scared to glance over towards the door. Ben Sharp walked in slowly, a look of surprise and confusion on his face. "Blair, I did-didn't know you were here." he said wearily casting a side glance to Dan. Dan avoided his gaze only to be met by Blair's. Blair looked up at Dan and shut her eyes for a quick moment before turning to face Ben. "Ben! Yes, I was here getting Humphrey's help on a paper I had written for my English Lit class." Blair said sipping her coffee casually not missing a beat.

"Yeah, because I'm a writer." Dan piped in nodding and immediately dropped his head down feeling like an idiot. Blair looked at him quizzically before turning to face Ben. "I was just on my way out. " she said trying to force a genuine smile his way. She went across the room, grabbed her Chanel bag and thanked her lucky stars that she had a few pages of notes inside. Slinging the bag over her shoulder and retrieving the notes she walked back over to the island and handed the papers to Dan.

"Here you go, I'll get them from you later?" she told him more than asked him. Dan only shook his head, surprised she actually came up with materials to support her alibi. "Okay, thanks for the coffee." She said nonchalantly and gave a tight smile over to Ben before making her way to the door and lightly shutting it behind her. Dan looked at Ben and could see he was trying to process what he just saw. Dan busied himself with clearing the kitchen, hoping he could get the hell out of there without looking too suspicious.

"So.. you and Blair.. hang out now?" Dan froze in mid clean up not knowing how to go about answering that question. He opened his mouth to speak but closed it realizing he really wasn't sure what he was going to say. At that Ben raised his eyebrows slightly. "You know we're civil and every now and then we help each other out with school or work stuff but I wouldn't say we hang out or anything." Dan replied finally, hoping that he came off casual, despite completely failing to do so.

"Right. So she just needed help with her paper.." Ben said almost as if he was trying to see if saying it outloud would make it sound more convincing. "Right." Dan replied confidently. "And she just decided to borrow a t-shirt and a pair of sweats because-" "Because when I offered her some coffee I accidently spilled some on her outfit and felt bad, so I let her borrow some clothes." Dan managed to sputter out, a hint of shock in his tone as the amazement of him coming up with something so quickly that seemed almost halfway legitimate left him both impressed and relieved. "And the bed being unmade on _both_ sides.." Ben trailed off hoping he would see where he was going with this.

Dan's eyes immediately flew to the bed. He had to admit, it did look a bit.. _disgruntled_. Dan glanced over to Ben and his eyes widened at the look of accusation that he was being given. "What? You think- me and Blair- No way.." Dan was visibly frustrated. Mostly because he was being accused of sleeping with Blair Waldorf and partly because he hadn't. Though before he could even begin to think up a reason to explain himself without Blair and bed being in the same sentence, Ben interrupted his thoughts. "You know what man, this isn't really my business. It's cool." He said walking into the kitchen.

Dan wasn't ready to dismiss the conversation, afraid that leaving it on that note was only going to stir up trouble; he needed to do some damage control. "No, it's okay. I know it's weird.. but honestly it's not anything like that. I swear. With everything that's happened in the last two years – going to NYU together, working at W, everything with.. _Juliet_.." he paused when Ben noticeably flinched at the brunette's name. Dan sighed before he continued. "We've just grown to.. tolerate each other. We're not on opposing teams anymore – I mean we both care about Serena _obviously_.."

Dan made sure to emphasize to let him know that there were absolutely no intentions of hurting his ex-girlfriend and to also remind him that he hasn't forgotten about everything that took place the past couple months, courtesy of the Sharp family. "..Nate is one of my best friends, I can be in the same room as Chuck Bass without punching him in the face.. I've grown. Which means I can be in the presence of Blair Waldorf without world war three breaking out. I guess what I'm trying to say is, we… don't hate each other." Dan paused, waiting for Ben's reaction. He initially gave the speech to convince Ben, but by the end it felt as if he was trying to convince himself.

Ben just nodded in understanding but didn't say a word, instead he glanced over to the bed that was in the middle of the living room instead of Dan's bedroom and sighed. "Hey man, I've been meaning to tell you sorry about this whole re-modeling mess. If I knew it was going to inconvenience you this much I definitely would've told Lily no when she brought it up." He said looking slightly embarrassed.

Ever since Serena suggested to Rufus to have Ben stay in the loft with Dan, Lily had gone out of her way to make things right with him in her own way. One of them being, offering to remodel the loft for Ben's stay. A few things had stopped working correctly and had been affected by wear and tear over the years and she wanted to make his stay as comfortable as possible considering everything she put him through and that jail was anything but comfortable. She also slightly did it for Dan, who was basically forced into living with his ex-girlfriend's boyfriend. Nothing more _uncomfortable_ than that.

"It's okay, Lily's just being.. Lily. For what it's worth, she really does feel bad about everything. She's ready to accept the consequences of her actions, and she really wants to make things up to you. This is just the only way she knows how." Dan replied sincerely. Ben just shrugged. The subject of Lily was still a sensitive one, he wasn't exactly over his anger towards her but he realized being angry wasn't going to solve anything, it wouldn't take things back and it would only complicate things in his already complicated relationship with Serena.

"Well, I still wanted to apologize. I'm basically imposing and it probably doesn't help that your bedroom is now your living room. And me being here with Serena.. I'm really not trying to make things awkward." He said wholeheartedly. Dan lightly winced. "Yeah, I know man. Look don't worry about it. Things happen.. It's cool." At this point all Dan wanted to do was move on from the subject. "Well, I'm gonna go get some rest, got a cater waiter gig tonight, but I'll see you later." Ben said patting him on the back. Dan just nodded distractedly. He couldn't really think about Ben and Serena right now. Everything he was feeling lead him to one thought. _What is Blair Waldorf thinking?_

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><p>Blair crept up her staircase as quietly as she could she didn't want to wake Cyrus or her mother. She made it to her room and opened her door and instantly turned around to shut it as lightly as she could. "Oh, <em>thank God<em>." She whispered to herself. The last thing she needed to be explaining to her mother is why she was waltzing in at 9am. She covered her eyes with her face and sank backwards against the door. When she uncovered her eyes she found Dorota staring at her.

"Ohmygod. Dorota! What the hell are you doing in here?" Blair shrieked as she put her hand on her heart and started looking around the room for where she could've came from. "I hide in your closet until you get back." Dorota exclaimed. "Why were you hiding in my closet?" Blair asked annoyed. "The question should be why are you coming home at 9 o'clock am." Blair rolled her eyes and went over to her bed and put down her Chanel bag. "That's none of your business." She said sauntering over to her closet for a change of clothes. "I think Ms. Blair do walk of shame. " Dorota continued following her over to the closet. "And I think you walk from Brooklyn." Dorota said pointing an accusing finger. Blair just snorted. "That's a pretty long walk don't you think?" Dorota glared at Blair as she sifted through her clothes non-chalantly.

"You've been spending lots of time with Mr. Humphrey, don't think I don't notice." Blair frowned wanting her to go away. "So what, he's been helping me with writing my papers and he helped me at _W_. We're nothing more than… friends. Kind of." She replied pulling out a pink and white Marchesa summer dress. "Friends that stay up all night and come back wearing Lonely boy's t-shirt?" Dorota asked arching an eyebrow.

"Coffee was spilt on my original ensemble, so he offered to lend me something to wear instead and considering he doesn't own anything other than flannel t-shirts and the L.L. Bean catalog this was the best he could manage. He was being a gentleman Dorota. Say what you want about Humphrey but he's always been chivalrous." She said taking a seat at the head of her bed. Dorota walked over and stood in front of where she sat. "Was Mr. Humphrey chivalrous _last night_." she asked her eyes darting from the bed to Blair.

Blair scrunched up her nose in confusion. "Last night?" she asked not understanding. Blair followed Dorota's eyes from the bed back to her. "Eww. Dorota! No. I mean yes. I mean… there was nothing to be chivalrous about because we fell asleep – I fell asleep. On the couch."

It wasn't technically a lie, they-she had fallen asleep on the couch. But the last time that happened her back was sore all the next day and she threatened that if he ever let that happen again she would sell Cedric his cabbage patch doll on e-bay. So last night he had carried her over to the bed. She knew this because in mid-lift she socked him in the eye, she thought he might've been an attacker coming to abduct her in her sleep. She was in Brooklyn after all. But there was no way she was going to let Dorota know that she slept in the same bed as Dan Humphrey. More than once. Twice. More than twice. In a week. For the past six weeks.

"Ms. Blair be careful. I don't want to see same thing happen like with Mr. Chuck." Dorota said unconvinced. "Please Dorota, Humphrey is not going to trade me for a hotel. Besides he doesn't have a hotel to trade. And nobody would ever even consider what he'd have on the table for that loft." She replied with over-exaggerated disgust. "You know what I mean." She said placing a hand on Blair's shoulder. Blair quickly waved her hand away.

"Well you don't have anything to worry about because nothing is going on with me and Humphrey. " Blair said a matter of factly. She got up from the bed and went into her bathroom, stopping at the bathroom sink to look at her reflection in the mirror. Dorota grabbed the Marchesa dress off the bed and followed her to the bathroom. "Yes, Ms. Blair. But the question is, is that what Mr. Humphrey wants?" Dorota said handing her the dress and quietly walking away. Blair took the dress and looked up at her reflection in the mirror. _What_.

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><p>Later that night Blair found herself tossing and turning in her bed unable to sleep. The last thing Dorota said kept playing over and over in her head. I mean, what <em>was<em> Humphrey thinking? Blair thought about how when they are in bed and his hand snakes around her waist and stays there for the rest of the night. She figured he did that out of habit, you know for when he was cuddled up with Cedric… or Sere- It was just a habit he had, an automatic reflex. But the one thing that bothered her was that … deep down, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep down.. if she really admitted it to herself- and only herself- she found herself slightly turned on by it.

But it could be because she was having somewhat of a dry spell. Yes, Blair Waldorf was having a dry spell. But it was because Blair Waldorf only sleeps with men she's dating and has feelings for and the last person she dated was Chuck Bass and that ended… badly. So suffice to say she wasn't exactly in a hurry to get back on the dating horse. But even so, a girl still had needs. And _obviously _it had gotten pretty bad if _Humphrey_ was eliciting any type of excitement.

Still, she wasn't going to deny the fact that it had been atleast six months since she had sex and every once in awhile she wished that she could change that. But she wasn't Serena Van Der woodsen, she didn't just pick a boy for the week to fall in love with. She usually opted for something long term and there was a process to it all, she had _standards_.

But even though there was no one fitting of those standards at the moment, she still found herself wanting the touch of a man, it didn't surprise her that Humphrey's arm around her waist set of the_slightest_ of sexual triggers. He _is_Humphrey, but he's still a man. But it was nothing other than the fact that he was purely a male that she felt any of these things. But why was it that Humphrey was feeling all these things? Was Humphrey feeling these things?

_It was a dimly lit ballroom; there was a glass chandelier that hung over the middle of the dance floor, white crème curtains billowed from the light breeze of the night, the black and white checkered tiles were filled with couples dancing close. It was beautiful. _

_The moon shined bright overhead and it's shadow shone through the open spaces around the room. Blair stood atop the long staircase where the room began, watching the others down below. She was wearing a white Greek tunic Vivian Westwood dress with one strap over the shoulder and a small ruffled train trailing behind her. She wore diamond drops on her ears and an understated string of tiny pearls around her neck. She looked around the room in awe. _

_Everything was wonderful, the night was perfect, the atmosphere was enchanting, and she never felt more elegant in her life. There was something special in the air, and it couldn't be missed. She scanned the crowd until her eyes fell on one figure. He was coming towards the center of the room when he stopped when he saw her. Her breath caught in her throat. He donned a classic tux, complete with matching dress shoes, his trademark 5 o'clock shadow, and his hair was slightly curled at the top just how she liked it. She'd never seen a more beautiful man. _

_He smirked up at her from below and headed towards the bottom of the steps. She felt a surge of excitement just then, quickly pulling up her train and making her way over to the top of the stairs. __She reached her destination to find him at the bottom of the staircase. He smiled at her, looking into her eyes to let her know that he was ready. _

_Blair exhaled a breath and gave him a quick smile in return and slowly made her way down the pearl white staircase. As she came down, their eyes remained only on each other, a smile wanting to break free of her lips to match the one on his. When she finally reached the bottom, they faced one another with merely one step in between them. "Mademoiselle" he said as he bowed to her on one knee, one arm out. Blair felt a blush creep up on her cheeks as she smiled and curtsied. __He held out his hand for her to take it, and she put her hand in his. He slowly kissed the back of her hand then offered his arm to which she gracefully accepted. Before they could make it even two steps she realized "I'm A Fool To Want You" by Billie Holiday was playing. _

_"Care for a dance?" he asked her simply. She looked at him and around the room then nodded her head giddily. He almost wanted to laugh, the cuteness of her enthusiasm causing him to widen his smile. He swung her to his left so that she ended up in front him and placed his hand on the small of her back . Blair clasped a hand through his free one and they danced slowly not taking their eyes off each other. She took in all that was around her, the room, the people dancing beside them, the romantic night sky, she was in heaven. Then her eyes brought her back to what was in front of her. _

_"You look exquisite tonight." He whispered his face only inches from hers. She almost wanted to cry as she heard the words come out of his mouth. She looked up to him, "Me.. you.. you look breathtaking." She said genuinely. He licked his lips and she felt every ounce of her body melt. He slowly pulled her closer, "Well, if I want to take anyone's breath away, I only want it to be yours." he said into her ear, almost below a whisper the roughness in his voice sending goose bumps from her shoulder down to her back. Blair laid her head on his shoulder not being able to hold the intense eye contact, if she had to look into his eyes any longer she was sure she would die. _

_They stayed that way for awhile, dancing close, both of their eyes closed. A minute or so goes by until the song has finished and Blair hears the most recognizable instrumental known to man. She feels him pull her even closer, his lips touching the top of her hair, his fingers now making circles on her lower back. "…At last... my love has come along, my lonely days are over.." Etta James' voice made its way onto the ballroom floor. The ministrations on her lower back were driving her crazy and she wasn't sure how much longer she would be able to keep it together. He felt her shudder in his arms and it took everything in him to keep his hands in an appropriate position. _

_He slowly moved his hand from her back up to her shoulder, and let his other cup her chin. Blair looked up somewhat startled by his actions. Before she could react he was crashing her lips with his. His lips felt course against the softness of her mouth but his kiss was tender and filled with want. They broke apart with lust filled gazes on each of their faces. Blair took a deep breath. "Why don't we slip away for a bit." She proposed feeling a bit forward. He looked down at her eager to follow her wherever she wanted to go. "Lead the way." _

_She took his hand and guided him up the staircase. She led him down the long hallway until she reached the end and entered the last room on the left. She shut the door behind her and found him looking out the long window on the side of the room. She walked quietly to where he was standing, he had his back to her and she gently took his right hand into hers. He stayed where he stood only slightly glancing over his shoulder. "I've been wanting this for so long, but I've been too afraid to have it.." she said in a tiny voice. He paused for a moment but then turned to face her. "Are you afraid now?" he asked with concern. Blair looked him straight in the eyes. "Yes." she replied firmly. _

_They held each other's gaze for a moment before Blair moved forward and kissed him hastily on the lips. His hands found their way around her waist around the same time his lips had separated by the force of her ministrations, begging for tongue's entrance. They moved together in rhythmic motion, their tongues dancing together as they found themselves settling onto the bed. He laid her down slowly while peppering kisses down her neck. Blair moaned in response, a myriad of scenarios running through her brain. She wanted this, she wanted this more than anyone could imagine. His lips made his way to her shoulders making sure he didn't miss an inch of her. All she wanted was for him to slip off her dress and be covered in nothing but him. _

_She reached for his collar but he stopped her cautiously pushing her hand away from it. "Blair, are you sure? We don't have to – I mean, I don't want to cross any lines you're not willing to." Blair kissed him forcefully on the mouth. "No. I want this." She moved her hands to the side of her dress and he watched her as the zipper went down further and further. Within seconds she was out of the dress and revealed a dark and light grey patterned lace corset with matching panties underneath. He bit his bottom lip as he took in the view, she was more stunning than he had previously envisioned. Blair laid back on the bed giving him the clear to come join her. _

_He made his way over to her kissing her cheek, the nape of her neck , until he reached her collarbone. "Blair." he breathed out in between kisses. Blair let her head roll back, pleasureous moans escaping from her lips. He paused right at the center of her chest, "Blair are you sure?" this time he was asking only out of courtesy, his voice was filled with lust and he had no intentions of stopping if she said yes. "Yes." She half moaned giving him all the incentive he needed. He continued making his way down her chest, when he reached the top of her corset. He looked up into her eyes as if to silently ask permission but when he reached them they were closed, a look of pure bliss displayed across her face. Before she could realize what he was doing, she felt his mouth covering one of her breasts and both of her eyes immediately opened. "Oh, God. Dan..."_

Blair sat upright in her bed, her shallow breathing shaking her from her dream. A cold sweat had formed on her back that was counteracted by the breeze coming from the opened window next to her bed. Blair sat up straight until her breathing returned to normal and she could think rational thoughts. Her eyes found their way over to her window, it was still dark. She wiped her face with the palm of her hand and exhaled a large breath. _I just had a sex dream about Dan Humphrey. What the fu-_

Please Review! Let me know what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

Okay, so here's the second chapter, it took me awhile because I've been so busy, life got in the way and I was having major writer's block but I got it done. It's not exactly my best work, but I wanted to put this up so I can start getting to the meat of the story. It was a bit rushed, but I feel it progresses things along. **Thank you for all the reviews**! They definitely motivated me to finish this, even if I'm not sure I'm 100% happy with this chapter. **Let me know what you think about where the story's going**!

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><p>"Oh My God, this is amazing!" Serena Van Der woodsen exclaimed in a high pitched voice.<p>

"So you like it?" a masculine voice asked from across the room.

"I like very much." She replied excitedly from where she was sitting.

Ben and Serena were in the living room of the Humphrey loft surrounded by candles, food, and some of the Humphrey family's leftover Christmas lights. Ben came around from where he stood behind the kitchen counter, wine bottle and two wine glasses in hand and sat on the couch next to Serena.

"I can't believe you did all this." Serena spoke softly accepting a wine glass from him. He unscrewed the cork and poured the liquid into her glass. "I just wanted to make tonight special, I know we don't get a lot of nights where we get to be alone, so I thought I'd put in a little effort, make it memorable." He placed the bottle down on the coffee table in front of them after pouring his own glass.

"Well, goal achieved." She replied smiling at him.

She put down her wine glass and kissed him slowly. Ben pulled away, smiling. "So, how was your day?" she asked as he started opening food containers and placing portions on two sets of plates. "It was okay. Visited some guys down at the prison, came home, and that pretty much was it. When my cater waiter job fell through, is when I decided to call you." He replied kissing her lightly on the nose.

Serena smiled sweetly. Ben cleared his throat. "I also talked to my mom today.." he trailed off. Serena did her best not to seem uncomfortable. "Oh. That's great, how did it go?" she asked trying to be supportive. "It went.. well you know how it usually goes." He said looking a bit somber.

"Ben, I'm sorry, I know a lot of the reason why your relationship with your mother is strained is because of me." Ben took her hands into his. "No. Look it's not your fault. I know our situation is complicated – " Ben started before Serena interjected. "Ben, my mother framed you for statutory rape, your sister drugged me and tried to get me kicked out of school, and your mother thinks that I'm ruining your life. I'd say that's beyond complicated. I think we passed complicated four boroughs ago." Serena said trying to infect humor into the conversation. Ben looked at her, eyes filled with concern.

"You're not ruining my life okay. I love being with you, you make me happy. You've been so good to me. You are far from ruining my life, I hope you know that."

Serena nodded half convinced. "I know, it's just my family, your mother, my mother, I know their touchy subjects and I hate everything that's happened. I hate that you and you're mother aren't as close anymore because of it. All because of what _my _mother did." Serena replied, her anger slightly rising. "Hey, I thought you weren't upset with your mom anymore?" Ben asked stroking her hair. "I'm not, atleast not like before. I have accepted that this is just what my mother does. But that still doesn't change that she's to blame for all this." She said caressing his cheek.

Ben couldn't argue with that. As much as he still held _much_ justifiable anger towards Lily he would never want that to get the best of him, mostly for Serena but partly because he didn't want to go back to the guy he was in prison. "I just don't want you to get bitter, that's not the Serena Van Der woodsen I know. Besides my mom is just going to have to get used to you being around. She can't be angry forever, not if she wants to continue to have any kind of relationship with me. If I can try to move past it, so could she." He said handing her a plate of food. Serena smiled and took the plate. "So." He started happy for the opportunity for a subject change.

"So." Serena echoed swishing around her wine glass. "How was your day?" he asked grabbing a fork from the coffee table.

"It wasn't as eventful as yours. Went to class, caught up on some homework, and then I came here. I meant to catch up with Blair and have lunch but she seems to be M.I.A. these days. I didn't even hear her come in last night." Serena said before taking a sip of her wine. Ben paused at the subject of Blair and thought about his talk with Dan earlier.

"Yeah, has that been happening a lot? Her not coming home?" he asked curiously. Serena thought to herself. "Well, I guess it kind of has but Blair has been in intense work mode ever since the whole _W_ fiasco. It's not unlike her to sacrifice sleep in the process of getting back on top. She's probably been falling asleep curled up next to her laptop and piles of Chaucer in the library." Serena said with a little laugh, picturing her best friend and the scene she described playing out before her.

Ben just nodded and took a bite of his food. He didn't want to overstep boundaries, what with Dan being his roommate after he pretty much crashed the place, not to mention him being Serena's ex. But Blair was also Serena's best friend and despite what Dan told him, something more than friendship was definitely going on. It probably wasn't anything serious yet, but these things tended to hurt less, the sooner the third party is informed. The last thing he wanted was to see Serena hurt by someone else she loved but he knew firsthand that knowing and being hurt is better than being left in the dark. Maybe he could just give her a tiny push in the right direction.

"So speaking of Blair, her and Dan have become fast friends huh?" Ben asked casually. Serena swallowed her drink. "Blair and Dan? Why do you say that?" she asked slightly giggling, the wine was working its way through her. "I just mean, they've been getting along, yes?" Ben wasn't sure what exactly Serena knew of the Blair-Dan sudden mysterious relationship or if she knew anything. "I guess so.." Serena answered puzzled. She put her plate down on the table and turned towards him hugging her knees. "Ben is there something you know that I don't?" Serena asked curiously. Ben sighed and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Spill." She demanded sensing his hesitation. "Earlier I came home and Blair was here at the loft… with Dan." Ben finally responded. He figured he'd leave out that it was in the morning and that Blair was wearing Dan's pj's - he was seriously _stretching _boundaries at this point and figured any sordid details should come from Blair herself. He looked at Serena who seemed to be processing this information. "Wait, Blair Waldorf was _here_ in Brooklyn?" Serena shook her head in confusion. Ben slowly nodded. "Okay… what was she doing here?" she asked not sure what to make of anything.

"She said she stopped by to drop off her English Lit paper for Dan to go over." Serena rolled her eyes playfully. "Okay, well there you go. I don't really see anything to be worked up about. Blair probably wanted Dan's approval because he's a good writer, she would do anything at this point to get back at _W_." Serena said reassuringly. Ben loved his girlfriend but sometimes she had the most of the time cute but sometimes trying trait of being naïve.

" What does her English Lit class have to do with getting hired back at _W_? You don't think that's weird that they're hanging out? Didn't you once tell me they hated each other?" Serena looked at him unsure of what he was trying to imply. "No, I mean, well maybe hate is a strong word but the last couple of years they've both been through a lot. All of us have, me, Dan, Blair, Nate, Chuck. Besides they both worked together in trying to find me and stopped Juliet. As much as they might despise each other, they do have one thing in common, they both love me. And they're two of my best friends. If they're getting along, I'm happy." Serena said genuinely. Ben shrank back into the couch and silence fell over the room. Serena could tell by his body language it was something she said.

"What?" Serena asked suddenly before realizing a second later. "Oh, Ben. I didn't mean to bring up all that stuff with Juliet.." Serena said putting a hand to his shoulder. Juliet was definitely a sore subject and something he avoided talking about whenever possible. His mom was one thing but his sister was something else entirely.

Ben moved her hand from his shoulder and took it in both of his. "No, it's not that – just… I think maybe you should talk to Blair. " he said now serious. "You don't think something actually is going on with them do you? Ben, that's ridiculous." Serena said hoping he would see how crazy he sounds. "Okay, well maybe it is. But maybe it isn't." Serena curved her bottom lip before reaching over for her plate again. "Well, I'll talk to her anyway. But I'm telling you nothing is going on with those two. Now eat your dinner it's going to get cold." She said plastering a grin on her face.

* * *

><p>"Uggh. This isn't working." Dan mumbled frustrated as he sat at his desk in front of his laptop. Dan had been trying to write something for the past hour but he had gotten a sudden case of writer's block. "I wonder why," He said sarcastically to himself. It had been a couple days since the whole Blair-Ben incident and ever since Blair had been acting frigid and stand-offish, more than usual… and the thoughts that were in his mind were another issue entirely. Everything seemed to take on a life of its own and he kept finding himself asking the same question all over again.<p>

_Is it possible Blair Waldorf could… like me?_ The relationship they had started a couple months back was a complicated and puzzling one. Half the time he didn't even know why it was happening and the other half he didn't realize a relationship was even forming. But it wasn't until she started spending nights in his bed that he ever considered that maybe it was turning into more than just a friendship. Which is crazy considering Blair practically had a stroke the first time he had referred to her as his friend. But as much as he would've hated to admit that four years ago, he didn't have any trouble admitting it now, that they were in fact _friends_.

They watched movies together, talked on the phone, talked about books, even shared details of their lives. All of which would qualify them as friends. But what really sealed the deal for him was a talk they had one night after watching the movie _Niagara_.

_ Movie credits rolled on the screen as Dan felt himself surrendering to the night as he yawned. The movie wasn't as good as he thought it would be but he wasn't exactly in the mood for obsessive men obsessing and then murdering their flighty mistresses. Dan fought to keep his eyes open. _

"_God, this movie is exhausting, I can't take all the screaming. Marilyn Monroe really took the high pitched 'Oh My God I'm being murdered' bit a tad too far I think." Dan turned to look at Blair who was sitting beside him on the couch. She was looking down at her lap not saying a word. _

"_Waldorf..." Dan called trying to get her attention. Without warning Blair burst into tears taking Dan by surprise. Dan wasn't sure what to do, I mean most men didn't when a woman burst into tears right in front of them, but he really wasn't sure what to do when Blair Waldorf burst into tears. He figured she never cried a day in her life._

"_Okay… did I miss something here. Was it the movie?" he asked trying to tread lightly. "God Humphrey, are you that dense?" Blair shouted through tears. _

_Dan winced, he didn't want to upset her anymore, but he wasn't sure what he was supposed to say. She looked up to the ceiling ashamed that she was crying next to Humphrey on a couch in Brooklyn. Dan watched as she was seemingly breaking down right in front of him. He moved closer to her and went to go touch her hand, which she quickly pushed away. _

"_Don't touch me!" she said nearly jumping off the couch. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry I didn't mean to intrude your personal space." He said backing away. _

_Blair tried to calm down and get her breathing back to normal, she knew she was being a drama queen but she never intended on crying in front of Dan and that made her feel even more weak and exposed than ever before. "Look I'm just going to go into my room and let you do whatever you need to for however long, I'll just be in there if you need me." Dan said starting for his bedroom on the opposite side of the living room. Blair turned to him and looked him in the eyes. "No wait." She said sitting back down on the couch. _

_Dan stopped midway and turned to face her. "You don't have to go Humphrey, I'm okay." She said playing with her hands. Dan sat back on the couch next to her, surprised she didn't flinch or back away from him. "Are you though?" he asked genuinely concerned. Blair looked up at him. _

"_Honestly, for the most part, yeah. But sometimes... I remember." She said with a glassy look in her eye. He looked at her confused._

"_Remember? Remember what?" Blair sighed and turned her body to face him, crossing her legs. "Chuck." She said, hoping that one word would give him an idea of where her head was at. _

"_Oh, my favorite person." He said sarcastically. Blair rolled her eyes. "But what about him though, I mean did something happen recently? I mean at Thanksgiving things between you two seemed okay. I know it got rough there for a little while but I thought you guys were good now?" _

"_We are. It's just watching the movie, it just reminded me of when things weren't so good." She said curling her bottom lip. Dan frowned. "I may not be his biggest fan but when I think of Chuck Bass I don't exactly think murderer." _

"_Well, do you think pimp?" Blair asked seriously. "Well, at one point he did wear a lot of purple suits. If you gave him a cane, maybe…" Dan said tilting his head imagining some of Chuck's more vintage outfits. "Dan…" Blair said straining her voice. Dan paused. _

_She was calling him by his first name, that was enough to cause for a stop in speech, not to mention the sound of her voice, it was almost as if she was wounded. He narrowed his eyes and instinctively placed his hand over hers, this time she didn't push him away. "Are you serious?" he asked now a little concerned. Blair took a deep breath and put on a brave face. "It was last year..." Blair started, as she recapped the past year's events. _

_An hour later she had told him the entire Hotel trade story and all Dan could do was just sit there quietly in shock. Shock, disbelief, and… anger. Blair sat their motionless not sure of what to do. Dan had an intense look on his face that she had never seen before. She leaned forward and lightly placed her hand over his, it was becoming almost normal at that point. _

"_Humphrey…" she trailed off trying to get his attention. _

_Dan shook his head as if he was shaking an image out of his brain. "I'm… I just –" he went on mumbling. She had no idea what it was that he was trying to sputter out. _

"_What?" she asked him quietly. _

_He looked as if he was in a daze, but eventually his eyes made their way to hers. "I just can't believe you really went through that," he said genuinely. _

_Blair made a grim smile. "Dan," she started, her voice softening. "It's –" she was cut off before she could continue. "It's unacceptable that's what it is," he said, his hands balling into fists. Blair noticed and glanced up to find a determined look on his face. To her surprise he got up from the couch and started pacing back and forth in front of it. She tried to read his face now but all she saw were the wheels turning in his head. She felt somewhat like a bobble head as she followed his repetitive trace of steps._

"_Humphrey, what are you doing? Sit down," she instructed him, in the least demanding tone she could muster. He paced a little more, then froze, giving Blair a look that she couldn't read. She glanced back at him with confusion, question marks shooting from her eyes. He settled back onto the couch to face her. He attempted speaking, but stopped himself, letting go of a breath he wasn't even aware he was holding. He looked her straight in the eyes with a look of earnest and placed both of his hands on her shoulders. _

"_Blair. You know that isn't normal right?" he drawled out slowly. "That, that… thing, that very messed up thing he did to you… that never should have happened," he said, purposely emphasizing strongly on the word never. Blair merely nodded. Dan looked at her with the saddest of eyes. She just seemed so broken and as much as she had removed herself from Chuck in the last six months he could tell that she still was experiencing the effects of their tumultuous relationship._

_Dan sighed, his eyes darting towards the ceiling. Blair studied his posture, his body was twisted uncomfortably in front of her and his hands were rung together in his lap. She was surprised at how upset he was, but also a little touched. "I just…I want you to know that you deserve so much better than that. I know you and Chuck had your own… unique kind of relationship, but it always bordered on a thin line of passionate and dangerous." _

_Blair felt her body twitch suddenly. Even though he was right, it was still hard for her to hear, especially because she never thought in a million years he would be the one to say it. "Look I know our friendship…" Dan started as she was about to interject. But he stopped her. "Yes, Blair we are friends… and though while our friendship is pretty recent, in all the years I've known you I can tell that this time, this time it's really…infected you."_

_Blair was taken aback by his choice of words. _

"_Infected?" she said aloud, with both question and defense in her voice. _

"_Blair, you've always been this force to be reckoned with, this often stubborn, annoying, Louboutin wearing force, but a force none the less. But the more your relationship with Chuck started to deteriorate the more that force was …weakened." Dan knew he was being blunt, but he wouldn't want to be any other way with her._

"_Excuse me, who are you to say I am weak?" Blair challenged, her softness turning into anger. _

"_Tell me this, would the Blair Waldorf from two years ago ever put up with any of Chuck's bullshit? Keep playing into his tired games? I don't think so. And I sure as hell know she wouldn't even stand for being traded like, like… property. That Blair Waldorf would've been out the door and Chuck Bass' ass would've been kicked to the curb faster than you can say Gossip Girl Blast." _

_Blair stiffened. He was right. Absolutely right. She turned away from him, a tear making its way down her cheek. _

_Dan felt an ache in his chest as he watched her struggle to look at him. _

"_You're right," she said, her voice shaking. He almost couldn't take it, seeing her like this, so fragile. Dan softened "You weren't weak, you were just in love," he spoke tenderly. Blair swallowed a sob. "I loved him so much, I would do anything for him. That was the problem," she replied quietly. Dan stared off into space, avoiding her gaze. Blair let the rest of the tears trickle down her face. She didn't care at this point. _

"_And he knew…" she said, her voice coming out strangled. Dan felt the ache in his chest get bigger. _

"_He knew that I would do anything for him, if he asked. Hell, even if he didn't," she said a sad laugh escaping her lips. _

"_And he would do anything for his empire," he said with much disdain. _

_Blair nodded dejectedly, hanging her head. The ache in his chest had turned into a sharp pain as he took in the sight of Blair Waldorf so gracefully distraught, so… undone before him. It was both painful and endearing. _

"_Blair," he said looking straight at her, his voice low. When she didn't look up, he gently grasped the bottom of her chin pushing her to look up at him. _

"_You should've been his empire," he said with a roughness to his voice. _

_Blair looked into his eyes, searching for any indication of pity, but she only found sincerity. They held each other's gaze for a while until Blair gave him a small smile. Dan removed his hand from her chin slowly, realizing he was still holding it there. _

_Blair sighed, shaking her head, as if she were shaking any thoughts she had out of her mind. _

"_So, Humphrey, you think you know what I deserve huh?" she asked with a touch of playfulness, hoping to lighten the mood. A strand of hair had fallen in front of her face and he fought the urge to tuck it behind her ear. _

"_You deserve some semblance of a stable relationship. I mean everybody deserves to be happy, to be treated well… to be loved," he replied whole-heartedly. Blair smiled and gave a light laugh._

"_Even a stubborn, annoying, Louboutin wearing girl like me?" she asked half-jokingly. _

"_Blair you are smart, sophisticated, well-read, crazy, demanding, fiery, passionate, and beautiful," he rambled off, noticing a look of surprise making its way onto her face. Blair felt her smile widen a little more. "And –and- you're… ridiculous," he stumbled out. Ridiculously sexy. A thought he felt would be better to keep to himself at that moment. _

"_Humphrey…" Blair trailed off, rolling her eyes. _

"_Thank you," she said finally, smiling up at him. _

"_You're welcome, Waldorf."_

Dan drummed his fingers on his desk. Maybe he should call her? It wasn't weird for them to go a few days without talking but it was weird for them to go a week without any sort of communication, even if it was Blair simply texting him her takeout requests for movie night.

But coincidently (or not so coincidently) this week she had _not _made a request nor was there a movie night to make a request for. To top it off the two whole seconds he saw Blair this week, she had been fidgety and anxious like she couldn't be too close to him or she was going to catch something.

It would've been normal if it was out of disgust but she just seemed… like she was being careful. Why did she need to be careful around him? Then he started noticing the phone calls becoming rapidly shorter and the texts becoming a sentence, if that. Something was definitely up.

* * *

><p>"<em>Humphrey! I told you that this swimsuit is vintage, meaning that under no circumstances shall I get it wet!" Blair exclaimed as she ran through the front door of the Humphrey loft. Dan came in behind her, towels in one of his arms and a picnic basket in the other. The door shut behind them as they made their way into the kitchen. Dan put the basket down on the counter and let his keys drop on a kitchen stool. <em>_"Blair, a vintage swimsuit… that sounds kind of skivvy."_

_Blair scoffed. "Eww. Humphrey don't be ridiculous, of course I've had this thoroughly dry cleaned. Besides this was a duplicate suit of one used on a set of an Audrey film, there's only two of these that exist. This one was made in case the original one was somehow damaged, but it never was used, so they auctioned it off. I'm the only one who's worn this suit, don't be gross Humphrey," she said rolling her eyes as if he had said the most poposterous thing she's ever heard. Dan wrinkled his nose. "Yeah, that you know of." She gave him an icy stare. "Also, you dry clean your bathing suits?" Dan asked mostly rhetorically. "Why are you still surprised by these things?" _

_Blair sat down on one of the bar stools and wrapped her arms around her shoulders. Noticing her visibly shaking, he came around the island taking a towel with him and wrapped it around her body. _

"_You must be freezing," he said rubbing his hands up and down the sides of her arms. She was shaking so much she didn't realize that it was making her teeth chatter. _

"_Thanks," she mumbled quietly. _

_Water dripped from the tips of her hair and splashed onto her cheeks. Her hair was stuck together in tiny wet ringlets that curled around her face. Dan couldn't think of anything sexier. _

"_Hey, why don't we warm up with some hot tea by the heater?" he suggested, sliding a thumb over the droplets on her cheeks. Blair felt the warmth radiating off his fingertips. "Okay," she nodded. _

_They laid on his bed shortly after, the small space heater that occupied the corner of Dan's room cranked up to full blast, while leaving a window open halfway to keep a slight breeze on that warm summer day. With their now empty coffee mugs discarded on his night stand, he laid on towels set down underneath them, stroking her tousled hair as her head rested upon his abdomen. He knew she wasn't asleep but he watched her as her eyes closed, breathing out small gentle breaths. She looked so peaceful, kind of like how she looked earlier, he thought to himself. _

_When Blair barged into the loft wearing a trench coat with a black swimsuit underneath, demanding they have a beach day Dan had no idea what to think, but knew enough that when Blair Waldorf demanded something you did as you were told. This is why two hours later he found himself physically carrying her over his shoulder and tumbling her into the coldest body of water he had felt in a long time. Even though she detested it and threw a fit about him paying for her dry cleaning bill, she quickly coerced herself into chasing him around and playfully throwing fistfuls of water in his direction. There was something about her laugh that was different that day. How her eyes lit up, like they were brighter than usual. Her smile more vibrant. She just seemed…lighter. He'd never seen her so vivacious and full of life, it suited her. _

_He suddenly felt her stir underneath his fingertips. She made a small yawn and settled into a more comfortable position. Her eyes were open now but she said nothing, she only brought her hands to her lap and started playing with her fingers nervously. _

"_Humphrey?" she whispered in a small voice he barely recognized. _

"_Yeah?" he_ _answered. _

"_Did you have fun today?" she asked in a curious tone. _

_Dan paused for a moment, in thought._

"_Yeah. I think I did," he answered honestly. _

_A smile curved its way upon her lips. Dan intertwined the locks of her hair with his fingers, massaging her scalp. _

"_Mmm," she breathed out, almost inaudibly. _

_They stayed there that way for a while, two minutes of comfortable silence filling the air until Blair finally spoke. _

"_When we were twelve, me and Serena went shopping for our first day of seventh grade," she started. "We were at Bendels trying on dresses when Serena picked up this grotesque yellow polka dot summer dress, I mean it was hideous. But she was so excited because she thought it would be perfect for me. I kept trying to tell her that I was allergic to anything that looked like Jessica Simpson once wore it."_

_Dan chuckled lightly. _

"_No, we wouldn't want that," he retorted. _

_Blair shook her head seriously. "This thing looked like it belonged on a giraffe for Pete's sake. I have no idea what S was thinking," she scoffed, her face scrunching up in horror at the thought of it. Dan's smile widened as he continued to gently stroke her hair._

"_I told her there was no way in hell that I was actually going to try that thing on, even if she was convinced that it was one of those pieces that looked better off the hanger than on. Anyway, she ended up trying it on for herself and absolutely loved it. It still looked hideous to me but despite my protests she ended up wearing it the next day at school. And it was crazy because everyone was complimenting her on it left and right and even though I know none of them would ever be caught dead wearing it, somehow it was fit for Serena, though I never was able to see the appeal. She however loved that dress. I remember she would wear it so much she would sometimes end up going to bed in it…then one day I guess she just grew out of it." _

_Blair moved her hands from her lap and started to trace over her stomach through the outline of her bathing suit. She paused for a moment taking in the cool air that was encompassing the room. _

"_Then about three years later when she had moved to the penthouse, we were unpacking her things and I found the dress. She'd forgotten she still even had it at that point. But for some reason I decided to try it on." _

_Dan moved his head to the side to glance down at her._

"_And?" he questioned. _

"_I tried it on and as soon as I looked in the mirror, I saw it. I didn't understand before, but when I looked into that mirror I loved how that dress looked on me. And I thought to myself, why now? I thought maybe it was because Serena had it first and that made me want it, but it wasn't that. I just had finally tried it on for myself and was able to see what Serena saw. Even though she hadn't thought of that dress in years, I could never ask her for it, she loved that dress so much. So, I just put it back in the box." _

_Blair took a breathe and stared off into space. Dan laid still with his hands buried in her hair, his eyes faintly closing. "Dan?" she asked, interrupting the silence. _

"_Hmm?" he answered, her voice rousing him from drifting off. _

_She exhaled slowly and quietly. _

"_I think, I want that yellow polka dot dress."_

_ Zzzzz! Zzzzz! Zzzzz! _Blair's cell phone buzzed on her pillow. She was sprawled on top of her bed, head on her pillow, eyes quickly fluttering open, rousing her from her dream. She had fallen asleep as soon as she had gotten home earlier that day, and to her disappointment (or delight?) she had drifted away to another dream of Dan Humphrey. Only not as salacious as some of her previous ones. Without thinking she grabbed her phone and pressed accept.

"Hello," she answered, annoyed to be stirred from her nap.

"Waldorf," Dan's voice echoed into her ear.

_Shit. _She had been avoiding him for almost a week, for reasons she wasn't completely sure of but constantly having dreams about him wasn't helping. Blair sighed as she sat up.

"Humphrey, what do you want?" she greeted him purposely sounding bored. "I was just calling because I hadn't from you in a while."

Blair smirked.

"Oh yeah? Were you expecting to hear from me, Humphrey?" She heard him pause.

"Blair is there something going on?" he drawled out slowly.

"Whatever do you mean?" she asked, as if she had no clue to what he was insinuating. She could practically hear him rolling his eyes on the other end.

"It's just it's been awhile like I said, and the last time I saw you was after the whole Ben incident and I don't know…I thought that maybe you were freaked out," he explained.

"And why would I be freaked out?" she asked nonchalantly.

"Maybe because we got caught."

Blair forced herself to laugh. "Got caught? Humphrey, this is hardly a husband with the housekeeper situation."

"Blair, you know what I mean…," he trailed off.

"No, I don't because there's nothing that we're doing that's wrong here," she said suddenly getting agitated.

"I agree," he responded quickly.

"Okay," she exclaimed shortly after.

"Then I guess we don't have to hide anymore," Dan challenged her.

Blair opened her mouth to speak, but closed it quickly thinking of what to say. "No…of course not," she agreed through gritted teeth.

"I'm only saying it because you insisted that we don't tell anyone of our… rendezvous'. Rather aggressively actually," he remarked seriously.

Blair bit her bottom lip out of frustration.

"Humphrey, don't say rendezvous," she replied tiredly.

"And now… that I've given it a second thought, I see that us sneaking around only causes more suspicion than it does achieve the goal of actually hiding something," she finished, standing up and walking over to her windowsill.

"And there's nothing to hide, so…," Dan continued on.

"Exactly," Blair replied enthusiastically.

"So I guess I'll see you for movie night then?" Dan wagered, seeing if she would back down. Being a bit thrown off Blair remained silent.

"Of course," she eventually responded. "Only, if I'm not busy," she quickly added.

"Blair, we've been doing movie night for the last two months. All of a sudden you're too busy for Ava Gardner?"

Blair silently huffed not liking the feeling she was getting in the pit of her stomach, though she didn't exactly know what it was.

"Waldorf, its movie night, it's what we _do_. We're friends, _right_?"

The way he asked, came across as more of a question of definition than confirmation, a little hopeful as well, but for what she wasn't sure.

Blair closed her eyes, her mind wandering to dreams that have plagued her for almost two weeks now. Images of Dan caressing her thigh, kissing her neck, playing with her hair, his mouth on… things.

"Right."

Dan cleared his throat. "Well, okay then I'll see you Thursday."

"Okay," she answered after a beat.

Blair hung up the phone and groaned. It seemed more and more that after she got done dealing with him he would leave her even more frustrated (sexually?) than he did before and she didn't like it. At all.

"Knock, knock," came a faint voice from behind her.

Blair turned around to find Serena in her doorway.

"S.," she greeted her as Serena made her way over to her bed.

"When did you get back?" Blair questioned as she walked over and sat down beside her.

Serena ran a finger through her hair. "Just a little while ago."

Blair noticed the weariness in her voice, and even though she was looking at her, she seemed a little distracted.

"Are you okay?" Blair asked placing a hand on her knee.

Serena just shook her head exasperatingly and sighed. "It's just…Ben. Things are kind of weird with us," she answered solemnly. "Ah, the age old struggle of boy meets girl, boy can't date girl because he's her high school teacher. But boy still goes to jail because girl's mother forged girl's signature on affidavit ," Blair retorted with a shake of her head.

"B.," Serena called out in a restless voice. Blair looked down at her hands guiltily.

"But then boy and girl eventually get together in the end," Blair said in a happier tone. "But then girl loses relationship with her mom and then boy moves in with girl's ex-boyfriend…" she trailed off frowning.

"But that's not important," she added with a wave of her hand.

Serena just stared past her glumly.

"Serena," Blair spoke in a small voice.

Serena turned toward her and gave her a forced smile. Blair grabbed Serena's arm and brought her closer to her, bringing her own arm around her shoulder, propping Serena's head up on her chest.

"What's going on?" Blair asked tenderly, stroking her blonde curls.

"Ben and his mom got into a fight…over me."

"Let me guess she thinks you're _ruining_ his life?" Blair asked mockingly.

"Yes, and they haven't been getting along for a while now, and it's causing a strain on our relationship. Whenever the subject of any of our family comes up it gets tense. My mom, his mom, Juliet… it's too much. I don't know what to do B," Serena exclaimed , worry clouding her face.

"Well, why don't you tell him how you feel? If he knows you're feeling this way, maybe you guys can deal with it and move past it."

Serena's eyes suddenly brightened up.

"Well, we are going away for the weekend, just the two of us… maybe it will be good for us. We'll be in the country, it'll be therapeutic," she said smiling now.

"So, you guys are going away together, ooh lala," Blair teased.

"Well, we haven't exactly been able to have very much _alone _time so I thought it was a good idea. We'll be locked away in one of Cece's cabins, shut off from the outside world. It will be amazing," Serena gushed.

"Yeah, and you won't have to worry about ex-boyfriends walking on during your _alone _time," Blair mused.

A minute of silence went by before Serena started again.

"Hey, so…speaking of ex-boyfriends, Ben told me that you and Dan are hanging out now?"

Blair froze. She wasn't sure what she should say to Serena, especially because of everything else she's got going on. But her voice wasn't very accusing… not that there's anything to be accused of.

"What? I wouldn't go overboard and call it hanging out, every so often I enlist Humphrey to do some grunt work for me, after all he does owe me for _W_. And he takes that work off my shoulders so I can focus on the important things. Like consoling my best friend when she has a problem," she replied rubbing Serena's arm.

"You know that if you and Dan are friends, I'd be happy about that. I always thought it was ridiculous that you two never got along, you actually have a lot of things in common," Serena said glancing up at her. Blair gave Serena a tight smile.

"Well, maybe that was always the problem. We're too alike, so we can't stand each other. But oh wait, I'm _nothing_ like Dan Humphrey. Or any other species of human that comes from Brooklyn. And I sure as hell dress better," Blair spat out begrudgingly.

"Yeah, but sometimes distaste for someone can turn into… less distaste for someone," Serena said reluctantly. "Oh, trust me Serena me and Humphrey are hardly besties. I like to think of him as… my bitch," she replied smiling widely.

"Blair," Serena called out to her. "Is there something going on with you and Dan?"

She figured she wouldn't beat around the bush any longer and just skip to being direct. Blair looked as if she was about to have a heart attack. When she didn't say anything, Serena started to get nervous.

"Because you know, you can tell me…" she trailed of, unsure if she actually wanted to know despite what she had just said. "S, you think that there's something really going on here? With me and Dan Humphrey. That's laughable, that's less than laughable."

Serena sensed Blair's nervousness, but wasn't sure what to think.

"I just know that sometimes when two people start of essentially hating each other, that can turn into some sort of … attraction."

Blair looked at Serena seeing the apprehension in her eyes. She could tell she didn't want to be having this conversation but she must've really felt the need to say something.

"Serena I'll be the first to tell you that I'm completely content loathing everything Dan Humphrey, and that hasn't changed," she said a matter of factly.

"But-"Serena started, but was cut off.

"No. Look, the only people who ever give Dan Humphrey's a real chance of escaping a lonely existence are sun kissed blonde Upper East Side beauties and self-righteous hipster Brooklyn-ites. "

Serena sat quietly looking at Blair. "Okay. But Blair," she called, causing Blair to turn towards her.

"If you _someday_ find that hell has frozen over... just tell me, okay?" She finished struggling with her words.

Blair was silent for a moment before nodding.

"Okay."


	3. Chapter 3

Okay you guys, so it's been a LONG time! But my life has been so crazy this past summer, and unfortunately not in a good way :/ But writing this has definitely helped in lifting my spirits. **A BIG thankyou to all who have reviewed so far. I appreciate them so much**. It's actually what helped me power through this last chapter, every time I would get stuck I would re-read them and it would get me excited to write again. **This chapter is for all those who were hoping for some serious D&B interaction, so this one's for you! **We pick up on movie night. This chapter quickly turned into an **M** rating, so _you are warned _but there is a purpose I promise. Part of the reason this took so long for me to write is because I wanted to do this as carefully and realistically as possible. I didn't want to cheapen Dair. But you can be the judge of that for yourself. PLEASE do let me know what your thoughts are! I worked especially hard to get this out in time for the premiere, so I hope you enjoy!

* * *

><p>"<em>Yes, Oh God, yes," Blair moaned softly into her silk blue comforter, gripping the pillow that lay underneath her head. <em>

_She felt a hand ghost the innards of her thigh and it took everything she had not to let another low moan escape her lips._

_She could barely take it, all the emotions and sensations that were running through her. All she knew was that she'd been wanting Dan Humphrey and now she finally had him. _

_He took his time with her, that's what she liked about him. A touch so torturous, but she wouldn't have it any other pace because anything faster only meant it would be over sooner. _

_They were still in the stages of foreplay, his left hand concentrated on her thigh and the other at work on the nub of one of her breasts. At this point she was embarrassed by her total lack of self-control. He hadn't even gotten her panties removed and she had already come undone. But that was just the kind of effect he had on her. _

_Initially when things took a hot and heavy turn, she immediately tried to skip to the main event. But Dan had other things in mind. Not that it mattered because the second she found herself under the throes of him, her usually dominating demeanor essentially vanished, and she was the one being dominated. _

_He dipped his head below her waistline trailing soft kisses from her center, working his way up her torso until he settled on the middle of her neck. She felt the flicker of his tongue against her collar bone and sighed in delight. He looked up at her and their eyes met. His hands made their way up to her face and cupped her cheeks as she struggled to breathe evenly. _

"_You're so amazing, you have no idea what you do to me," he murmured as he kissed one of her eyelids. _

_Blair removed his hands from her face and moved them down to her hips. _

"_And you have no idea what I want to do to you," she drawled out, nibbling on his bottom lip while her hand stroked through the material of his briefs._

_Blair reveled in satisfaction as she heard him groan and watched his eyes close. She moved her lips over to the bottom of his earlobe and softly took it into her mouth, teasing him further._

_Her fingers were just making their way up to his waistband when she felt him firmly grab at her wrist. _

_Dan almost laughed at the pout that spread across her face. "My turn first," he said as he slipped a finger into the side of her black laced panties. Blair moaned at the unexpected sensation of his touch against her warm center. _

_Dan paused and pressed his mouth to her ear. "If that's okay with you?" he questioned, moving his lips to the side of her neck. Blair could only give a nod of the head before she felt him pressing into her. _

_She sighed, bracing herself for what would be the start of her inevitable loss of complete control._

* * *

><p>Blair's head sunk into the pillow as she slid her hand deeper underneath the covers. Her fingers were intertwined between the inside of her silk skirt and the outside of her laced underwear. Her breath hitched as a finger roamed the outside of her folds.<p>

It was movie night at the Humphrey loft, it had been a week since Dan and Blair's phone conversation and Blair had begrudgingly agreed to their usual ritual of movies and takeout.

Though, when she arrived at the Humphrey doorstep she found her knocks being unanswered and the twists of the doorknob unsuccessful.

After waiting for what she felt was far too long, she finally decided to call.

"Where the hell are you?" Blair spat into the phone as soon as she heard him pick up.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry," he replied automatically.

"Sorry for what? Leaving me out in the cold in _Brooklyn_? For all the serial killers and rapists to see? So I can be bludgeoned to death? Or worse, _mugged_. Humphrey, I am wearing _Vera Wang_," she whispered sharply through gritted teeth.

"Blair, please don't be dramatic," Dan mumbled , rolling his eyes.

"Really? You want to give me attitude when I'm the one standing in thirty degree weather waiting for _your _ass to come home so we can have movie night. A movie night I was _dragged_ into attending? A movie night where I'm ten seconds from grabbing a cab, going home, and slipping into my fifteen hundred thread count Egyptian cotton sheets -"

"I know, sorry. I just got caught up with some things with my dad. I was supposed to help him with getting some demo's to the label but there was this whole big confusion with scheduling and not all of the tracks are there –"

"You're ditching me for your lame 90's dad and a rock group that is even more irrelevant than him? Humphrey, _are you kidding me_?" she cut in, before he could finish.

"I know , I know. I was supposed to be done by now. I'm almost out of here, and then I'll go pick up the food. Ten minutes more, tops," he reassured her in a calm voice.

"You promise?" Blair questioned, agitated.

"Yes, I should be home in thirty minutes. At the top of the door there should be a spare key. Let yourself in and you can pick the movie and I should be there in no time."

Blair sighed.

"Fine. But please no wanton shrimp this time. I'm pretty sure it gave me an allergic reaction," she requested scrunching up her nose.

Dan snorted.

"It's a done deal. I'll even pick up your favorite bottle, and desert will be a surprise," he teased.

"Absolutely nothing newer than a ninety nine, I like my wine aged," she retorted, as she stood up on her tip toes and felt for the top of the door, producing a gold key.

"Of course not," Dan mocked.

Blair turned the key in the lock and let herself in.

"Humphrey, you owe me," she threatened.

"I know, see you in a few."

_Click_.

Blair just stared at her phone and shook her head. She looked around the loft, and made her way to Dan's dvd collection. _Roman Holiday_. It would do.

Forty-five minutes had gone by and by that time Blair was livid. So much for ten minutes tops. Blair looked at her cell phone. 8:00 PM. She called him again but got no answer this time.

"Where are you Humphrey?" Blair asked aloud.

She was sitting on the couch when her eyes made their way over to the queen size bed that still sat in the corner of the living room.

She laughed to herself. Nothing like a Lily Van Der woodsen remodel.

Blair had to give Serena's mom credit. She was trying. But she didn't think giving Ben a place to stay and spiffing up the place for Dan would make everything kosher again. Plus, there still was a considerable amount of jail time that Lily could possibly face and all of it was in the hands of a judge.

She made her away across the room and pulled back the covers, feeling for the sheets. Not exactly a fifteen hundred thread count, but it was evident that there had been a definite upgrade of the Van Der woodsen variety.

She yawned and swung her legs over the bed and buried herself under the covers. It had been a long day. The night before she had studied all night for a philosophy quiz and spent most of her morning and afternoon preparing a presentation for her _Women's Literature_ class. The least she could do was take a nap while she waited.

Her napping had led her to daydream (or night dream in this case). She had been having dreams about Dan for weeks but in the last couple of days she was relieved to find they had stopped. Momentarily, anyway.

Her nap at the Humphrey loft is where the dreams had resurrected themselves. Though, this time it wasn't a dream, but her mind wandering.

She hadn't fully fallen into slumber, but neither was she completely conscience. It was an in-between stage. The more she let her mind wander, the more her hands began to wander…

It had been a stressful week and she needed nothing more than to relax. Apparently that came in the form of eager fingers and Dan Humphrey's bed. Which is how she found herself in the midst of solo pleasures and feather light sighs on movie night.

* * *

><p><em>You have reached the voicemail of Blair Waldorf. If you leave your name, number, and a brief message I will get back to you… that is, if you're worth my time. <em>

Dan clicked his cell phone shut at the sound of the beep. It had been almost two hours from the time he last spoke to Blair and he knew that she probably was already at stage five of plotting his death for being so late. _Real men never leave a Waldorf waiting_, is what she said to him once. And that was only after a two minute wait. He knew he was going to get it when he finally made it to the loft.

He hailed a cab and was on his way after stopping to pick up the food which took forty-five minutes more than it should have due to all the people that just _happened_ to decide to order out at _Wanton Willie's_. Then after making a trip to the liquor store and picking up something special for dessert he was finally on his way home.

He felt the cab slow down, and looked up ahead. Traffic.

_Are you serious? _Dan thought as he let out a short breath. He was only about a block away. Blair probably had left by now for all he knew. Deciding he couldn't wait any longer, he gave the cab driver some money, grabbed his bags and started walking towards the street.

Two minutes later he was trudging up the steps to his building and after fumbling with his key for a few moments, making his way through the front door. He immediately strode towards the kitchen, relieving himself of the brown paper bags he was holding. He automatically started unloading contents from the bag but after a beat realized the loft was unusually quiet.

"Blair?" he called out.

No answer.

Dan scanned the room until his gaze fell onto his bed.

His bed.

Blair Waldorf was in his bed. Alone.

Dan set down the food he currently had in his hand and made his way to where the brunette laid. It wasn't exactly the most manly thought, but Dan had to admit, seeing her like this, it was adorable. He smiled to himself, thinking of the absurdity that Dan Humphrey from twelfth grade would have thought of this moment.

He glanced over to the coffee table where a copy of _Roman Holiday_ sat, then back at her. He didn't really want to wake her even though it was his fault that movie night got slightly derailed. He ultimately decided to leave her be after considering the Waldorf wrath he would be incurring once she finally did wake.

He was on his way back to the kitchen when a soft noise made him stop. Dan paused where he was standing, not looking behind him.

When he finally turned around, he caught sight of Blair throwing her head to the side of her pillow, her right hand now gripping the edges of it. Curious, he moved closer, taking a seat on the side of the bed she wasn't occupying.

It only took a second for him to realize the location of her _other_ hand and slowly but surely it started to dawn on him the logistics of what was possibly happening.

Dan eyed her form for a moment, trying to decide whether his imagination was being really creative with him or if there was some sort of reality to his suspicions. Dan felt a slight movement vibrating from underneath the covers and he involuntarily froze.

_Wait_. _Is Blair Waldorf – _

Just then a low, distinctive moan escaped Blair's lips and her hand visibly sunk _deeper_ under the covers.

_Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my –_

Blair's body seemed to tense briefly before she turned over to her side facing him, a whimper floating out of her mouth and the tops of the blanket balled up into a fist at the center of her frame.

Dan studied her face. Her cheeks were faintly flushed, her eyes were gently closed and her lips were in a slight pout, with her top set of teeth resting on the middle of her bottom lip.

Though it wasn't instantly noticeable, she had this look of concentration gracing her face. Like her only focus was to achieve one thing. And Dan had a pretty good idea as to what that was.

He couldn't think. He couldn't move. The fact that Blair Waldorf was doing _this_ in _his_ bed made his head spin. And as much as the what, the when, and the why was confusing him, he just couldn't get himself to look away.

He was a pervert. He was sure. The fact that it was Blair Waldorf should've made him feel even more wrong – and it did – but it was just like witnessing a car crash. A sexy, erotic, chocolate haired car crash.

He felt the temperature rise in his body and wanted so badly to cool it down with an ice cold splash of reality. But this was real. She was real. And this sort of thing didn't happen to him.

He couldn't really get a grip on the situation. He was in the middle of contemplating whether he was making more of it than it actually was, when he saw her eyes flutter open.

* * *

><p><em>"Yes… I'm… almost… there…" Blair breathlessly sputtered out in barely contained moans. They were in the home stretch. <em>

_They had made it past the deliciously intoxicating foreplay and were well into the last act before the grand finale. Blair wasn't used to this, to him. He did things differently. He did things tenderly. He did things slowly. _

_After easing her in, he noticeably picked up the pace. Not so much where it was too much, but enough to where she didn't want him to stop. But he did stop. Slightly, anyway. Halfway through the pace had changed to a considerably slower one and it had been that way for the remainder of the time. _

_And although it took a while to build, Blair felt herself heading towards the edge of her orgasm. Which is why his long, deep, strokes were currently keeping her from forming complete coherent sentences. _

"_Let yourself go," he murmured as he slid his hands down the sides of her body, causing little shock waves to tingle throughout her. _

_She sucked in a breath. "I can't."_

"_You can," he responded kissing her shoulder._

"_I can't… I don't want to," she said looking him in the eyes. _

_Dan stared at her, trying to read her._

"_I can't, because … I don't want this to end," she explained, small hints of desperation and sadness in her tone._

"_It doesn't have to," he replied, caressing her cheek. "I'll be back again," he continued._

_He started to pick up the pace a little more and she felt herself unraveling with every stroke._

"_Let go," he repeated coarsely._

"_Oh god, Dan."_

_He sunk into her harder and faster._

"_Dan. Dan. Dan. Dan. Dan…" she cried out his name until she couldn't anymore._

* * *

><p>The more Blair's arousal grew the more conscience she felt herself become. At one point she had abandoned the in-between state she was in and was only focused on achieving the insurmountable pleasure she had needed for months.<p>

She was completely lost in the moment, not caring where she was (but mostly forgetting) and felt herself getting so close to where she wanted to be. Figuratively and literally.

She dug her hands deeper within the covers turning onto her side, her fingers roughly massaging her mid-section. She was at the climax of her daydream (in more ways than one) when something drove her out of her reverie.

There was a small movement that had rippled through the bed. Movement that was not from her. She was still in a hazy fog, but forced herself to open her eyes through lidded lashes.

When her vision cleared she was more than a little surprised to find Dan Humphrey, looking like a deer caught in headlights.

Suddenly it was all coming back to her. _Roman Holiday_. _Wanton Willie's_. Movie Night.

_Oh, God. _

Blair wanted to die. Shrivel up and die right then and there.

This had to be the most awkward situation she had been in to date. And it involved Dan Humphrey catching her in mid-masturbation in his own bed. In Brooklyn. The only thing that would make it more embarrassing would be if the whole thing was caught on tape.

Blair felt herself slowly prop herself up on her elbows, casually looking up into the corners of the room for any signs of a strategically placed security camera.

They both looked at each other, not saying a word.

Blair cleared her throat before starting to speak.

"You're late."

It took a second for Dan to register that words were said, but after a moment he met her gaze.

"I know, I'm sorry."

He said it sincerely, but she knew it had a double meaning.

She tore her eyes away from him suddenly, looking down. She realized she was still gripping the white sheet fabric and let it go, and casually tried to push her hair behind her ear, her hands shaking nervously. She felt him take notice.

"So…" he trailed off.

She looked at him timidly, her face failing to mask any vulnerability she felt.

"_Roman Holiday_?" he offered, as he made his way over to the coffee table and picked up the DVD copy.

Blair smiled slightly and nodded, relieved.

* * *

><p>An hour and a half later, credits rolled on the Humphrey's vintage '60 inch television screen illuminating the room with bright white letters in the dimly lit loft. Dan and Blair were seated on the couch, a great distance between them that didn't go unnoticed by Dan.<p>

Throughout the movie, he watched as Blair hardly touched her food and stayed uncharacteristically silent and still for ninety minutes. Even though he knew she had seen it a million times she seemed to be focusing all her energy on intently staring at the screen, failing to offer up any snarky commentary or squeals of joy at her favorite parts.

Realizing the movie had ended Blair looked to her carton of takeout, now probably cold, and grabbed for it, setting it on her lap.

Dan observed silently as she swished the food around as if she needed something to do. He looked to his own food in attempt to distract himself until he figured out something to say but saw that his carton was undeniably bare.

"So, are you going to start or shall I?" he asked after a beat of silence.

He saw her shake her head in confusion.

He tipped his head towards the direction of his bed and watched as her eyes followed.

When her eyes finally reached the queen size she closed them tightly the embarrassment evident in her face.

"I'm just saying… I don't want this awkwardness to go on forever. It'll drive me crazy."

Blair let out a lengthy sigh and turned to him.

"Fine. But if we're going to talk about this I'm going to need a drink," she all but threatened.

Dan got up and made his way over to the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator and retrieved a large black labeled wine bottle and a small paper bag. He took out two standard size glasses from the cupboard above him.

"Bigger glass," Blair spoke from the opposite side of the room.

Dan just looked at her as he fetched a medium size wine glass, slightly bigger than the original one he had in mind.

"Bigger than that," she retorted as soon as he brought the glass down onto the countertop.

Dan rustled around the cupboard until he found a square shaped wine glass that could easily hold half the contents of the entire bottle. He held the glass up for her to see.

Blair smiled in approval.

He poured the cherry colored liquid into both glasses before taking his seat back on the couch, setting the wine bottle, glasses, and paper bag on the coffee table in front of them.

"So it's not a ninety-nine but they had an oh-five Bordeaux," he said swishing his glass around.

Blair barely registered what was said as she went for the bottle and downed a considerable amount. Slightly grimacing, she put the bottle down and picked up her glass, finally having the courage to look at him.

Dan smirked, amused by how flustered she was. If only he had a camera.

"You're loving this too much," she said taking a sip.

Dan only smiled and took hold of the paper bag from the coffee table, opening it up.

"Macaroon? " he offered, extending his hand and a yellow colored cookie.

"It's been… _awhile_ okay," she blurted out, her body fidgeting for a comfortable position on the couch.

She looked at the macaroon that was in his hand and snatched it away as he was about to pop it into his mouth, and swung her lungs underneath her.

Dan picked up his glass and set the box of cookies on the couch next to Blair before taking a seat across from her on the coffee table.

"What's awhile?" he asked leaning over and grabbing a crème colored pastry.

Blair hesitated.

"Seven months," she answered.

"_Seven months?_" Dan asked almost choking on his cookie.

Blair looked at him offended.

"Excuse me. I am not _Serena Van Der woodsen_. I do not flit about from guy to guy all footloose and fancy free. I do not seduce _high school teachers_ -"

"I'm very much aware you are not Serena," he remarked, cutting her off.

Blair frowned. Something about the way he said that bothered her.

"I just meant," he continued. "That, you're Blair Waldorf. You could get any guy you want. Or threatened. Albeit, I don't expect you to keep rank with the likes of a certain blonde Van Der woodsen, but I guess I assumed you'd had one suitor in the past seven months."

"I just… that part of me… it's reserved for those who are worthy of such. And I haven't really found that. So..." she trailed off, tipping her wine glass to her lips.

Dan went to pour some more wine into his glass.

"Well, since we're being open, it's been awhile for me too," he said sheepishly.

Blair's ears perked up at that.

"Oh? Really, when was your last Humphrey?" she asked grabbing for another macaroon.

Dan laughed dryly.

"Let's just say it's been… _awhile_. Not since…well, not since Vanessa," he replied wistfully.

Blair scrunched up her nose.

" I get that you two had the whole best friends forever thing going on but honestly Humphrey, I don't understand how even _you_ could resort to dating that backstabbing troll," she said, her filter momentarily on OFF.

"Blair," Dan spurned out tiredly.

Blair looked halfway apologetic.

"Sorry. I forget, you're the only one left that can still stand her."

Dan raised his eyebrows as he took another sip.

"Well, actually, if you must know, I ended our friendship after the whole Juliet thing. For throwing Jenny under the bus and for teaming up with her in the first place. Hurting Serena like that… it just went too far."

Blair looked up at him surprised.

"Oh…that must've been hard to do," Blair said in a sympathetic tone.

Dan smirked. "Yeah, well when your ex-girlfriend lands in the hospital because she was purposely drugged and one of your oldest friends is behind it, it becomes easier than you think," he replied glancing at the wall.

Blair traced the rim of her glass.

"Do you miss her?" she asked, curious.

"Sometimes," he responded. "But she and I were drifting apart way before Juliet came into the picture. Right about the time she decided to leave the country. And the Vanessa that I miss is not the person that was capable of doing all the things she did."

Blair watched as he gulped down the rest of his drink.

"But this didn't start out as a discussion about my past with Vanessa did it?" he reminded her giving her a teasing look.

"Humphrey, as if this isn't embarrassing enough…" she wined.

Dan laughed. "Hey, there's nothing to be embarrassed about it. It's natural. I didn't think Blair Waldorf ever had to do it, but I guess now I know," he responded, trying to fight the urge to burst out laughing at the shade of red her face turned.

"It's not a normal thing, I do," she tried to explain.

"Hey, everybody does it. And besides, everyone knows when it's a girl doing it, it's… sexy. When a guy does it, it's just …perverted. I mean, no guy can say they _don't _get turned on when a woman is-"

"Humphrey, how much exactly did you see?" she asked in an accusatory tone.

Dan froze as Blair looked at him pointedly. He decided by the look on her face he probably should skip over certain details.

"Not a lot. I promise. It was really just a few seconds, honestly. By the time I even figured out what was… _happening_, you woke up," he answered breathlessly.

Blair bore into him with her eyes for a couple seconds more before picking up a macaroon and throwing it at him.

"No one can know about this Humphrey,_ I swear_. "

Dan caught the cookie with his left hand. "I promise, I shall never speak of this… incident. I would never do that to a friend," he said, taking a bite of the macaroon and sending a genuine smile her way.

Blair tensed.

"Yeah, well I wouldn't get too flippant with the use of the word _friend_. I'd hardly go that far," she said in a haughty tone.

For a moment, Dan just looked at her. Long enough to cause her to turn away from his gaze. He grabbed the empty paper bag from the table along with his wine glass and wordlessly got up. He stood in front of Blair looking at her expectantly.

"You done with that?" he asked sharply, not waiting for her to respond before taking the glass out of her hands.

Blair watched as he stalked over to the kitchen and emptied the last remaining contents of her glass into the sink and started to wash both their glasses, his back to her.

"Humphrey, you're actually using _Palmolive _to wash those wine glasses? Do you not remember my lessens in _Lasatan_ shampoo? But then again those glasses are hardly anything to write home about, I mean they're not even crystal," she said in an arrogant tone.

Dan slammed the wine glass on the counter, causing Blair to slightly jump.

"If my lack of crystal bothers you Blair, _you can just leave_," he responded without turning around.

There was an edge to his voice that Blair wasn't used to hearing. He stayed with his back to her, both his hands now gripping the countertop.

"Humphrey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"

"Why is it so hard for you to _admit_ that we're friends?" he yelled, now facing her.

"I-"

"For the last three months you've spent every week at the loft, even some days spending the night. You've slept in the _same bed with me_. We've watched _Niagara, Nannette, Rosemary's Baby, _and every Audrey film on the fucking _planet_,"

He stopped only to take a breath.

"We eat takeout together and I drink your pretentious wine. And apparently my bed is the main station for you to get to know yourself better –"

"Humphrey!-"

"And I know, I know I'm Dan Humphrey. From _Brooklyn_. My dad had a rock band in the lame 90's grunge era, and my ex-girlfriend is now my step-sister, and my _actual _sister is someone you can't stand, and I wear flannel by choice –"

"Humphrey –"

"But after all that, all the time we've spent together. All the talks we've had. After I've seen Blair Waldorf _cry, _when I thought she was devoid of _any _emotion. After _all that_, she still won't dare associate herself with me."

The hurt in his voice was beyond evident. Blair didn't know how to respond. She didn't know what to tell him.

"Is it really that bad?" he asked, though he was not sure if it was to her or to himself.

Blair looked over to him, her eyes full of questioning but she did not dare ask him to what he was referring.

"Is it really that awful being Dan Humphrey, being supplementary to me? Because I have to say, that I thought the last person to make me feel this way would be Blair Waldorf but, I feel horrible when you talk about me that way. Like I'm _less than_,"

Blair felt a knot forming in her stomach as she watched the sullen look on his face.

"I know the hand I was dealt Blair. I was reminded of it every day at Constance. And you know what, I really didn't care. I won't apologize for who I am or the lack of money I was surrounded by growing up. But after finally feeling like those things didn't matter, atleast not to the people I care about. Not to Lily, Serena, Eric… I just -"

He cut himself short groaning quietly, as if the next thing he was about to say was difficult.

"I feel like shit when you say those things you do… because I care about you," he said, letting it slowly roll off his tongue.

"And maybe I'm an idiot for doing so… but I like hanging out with you, and going to art exhibits, and discussing Chaucer and debating the ins and out of your definition of fine dining. I mean, who else am I going to talk about the existential differences between Pablo Neruda's love poems and that of Robert Browning? Nate?"

Blair let out a snort.

"I'm not trying to be an asshole here," he continued. "But I can't do this Blair, not if you're going to deny me. My pride won't let me. The sixteen year old boy inside won't let me."

Blair sucked in a breath, thinking of the sixteen year old Dan Humphrey that hated her and worshipped her best friend.

"I know I don't deserve to be treated like this. I know I don't deserve to be some shameful secret," he whispered softly.

Blair felt her heart break. She never intended things to get so… cruel.

They were both quiet, Dan looking at the counter below him, Blair staring at her hands.

It was the first silence between them that was uncomfortable.

"You're not… horrible."

Dan looked up as Blair broke the silence.

"The only friends I've had, have known me since I used to wear mary-janes and put on my first headband. The only friends that have seen me drunk and at my worst. That I had my first kiss with. Who I lost my virginity to in the back of a limo. Who slept with my boyfriend behind my back. Who was around more than my actual mother ever was," she said playing with her hands in her lap.

"It's hard for me to open myself up to other people because for so long the same people have been my life. They've been the people to love me the most and hurt me the most. Sometimes I feel like they've stuck through because it's a habit, how it's supposed to be. Anyone else that didn't have the chance to be bred and coerced in to being a part of my life would just flee at a moment's notice," she finished, hanging her head slightly.

"Blair I know who you are. You've never hidden that from me. I know it's not all rainbows and kittens with you."

Blair gave a tired laugh.

"Yeah, but you're the boy from Brooklyn. You're supposed to hate me," she said, giving him a side glance.

Dan moved from around the island and walked closer to her.

"Blair, when you realize that the only person chaining your life to the idea of how things are 'supposed to be'is you, you will finally see that _Brooklyn_ and _Manhattan_ are both in _New York_."

Blair sat quietly as he collected the bottle of Bordeaux and took it with him to the kitchen, his words settling in her mind.

"You are my friend you know," she called out unexpectedly.

Dan stopped what he was doing.

"I want you to know that," she said gently.

Dan went over to the couch and took a seat beside her.

"I know I make snide remarks but that's just the thing we do Humphrey - you're not a shameful secret. I mean … You're …. I'm not…ashamed of you. And I don't want you to continue thinking that," she managed to get out.

Dan studied her as she nervously went for the box of macaroons.

"That's all you had to say Waldorf," he replied grinning, stealing her macaroon away.

He broke it in half, and gave the remaining piece to her.

She accepted, a sincere smile forming on her face.

"And you're wrong," she suddenly stated.

Dan handed her another macaroon, confusion clouding his face.

"It's not perverted. Girls like it too, especially if we're the reason behind it," she said in a teasing tone.

Dan groaned remembering his comment earlier. "Uggh, please tell me that this isn't implying any past involvings with Chuck Bass."

Blair screwed her face up in disgust.

"God, no."

Dan shifted his weight toward the middle of the couch, turning towards her.

"Are you over him?" he asked.

It was his first mentioning of him ever since she unexpectedly burst out crying.

Blair thought to herself for a moment.

_Was she?_

"Do you ever get over the Chuck Bass' and the Serena Van Der woodens' of the world?" she asked, mostly rhetorically.

Dan paused for a moment.

"You do," he replied smiling softly.

Blair narrowed her eyes at him.

"So, you're telling me you're over Serena?"

He sighed, a tired smile tugging at the sides of his face.

"Serena will always be, _Serena_."

It didn't go unnoticed by Blair that he didn't really answer the question.

He got up and walked over to the TV and turned off the DVD player.

He sat back on the coffee table giving Blair a mischievous look.

"What?" she asked, her mouth full of macaroon.

"So, I'm going to assume that little fantasy of yours didn't involve Chuck Bass. So, who did it entail?" he asked, hardly hiding his smirk.

Blair narrowed her eyes at him, thinking of what to say.

"If you must know, my so-called fantasy involved…"

Dan raised his eyebrows in waiting.

"Nate."

She heard herself say it before she could think of a suitable answer.

_Wtf. Nate?_

"Nate?" Dan crocked out, half amused, half puzzled.

_I could've said anything else…_

"Yes, Nate. You know, Nate Archibald. Brown hair, small brain, chiseled abs," she responded casually.

Blair leaned her head against the back of the couch.

"Didn't you two used to have a bromance?" she asked, fluttering her eyelashes.

Dan rolled his eyes at the word _bromance_.

"Yeah, well, not so much now. Not ever since the whole Serena putting us in a three way love triangle thing. It just hasn't been the same. I mean, I bowed out of the whole situation. But I can tell, he was still very much in the game. Even though things have changed now, we still never really got back to being the friends we used to be."

"Yeah," she started. "I guess I can say the same with me and Serena. Ever since the whole Ben relationship started she's pretty much gone off the grid."

"So, it's not just me then? I don't feel bad now. Serena hasn't really been in my reach lately, and I know Eric has mentioned he's thought about issuing a search warrant," Dan joked.

"That's just how S is. Whenever she feels her relationship of the month is in danger, her only focus is to get it back on course," she mused, reflecting over boyfriends of Serena's past.

Blair let out a sigh.

"I miss nate."

"Clearly," Dan said absentmindedly.

"Not like that. I mean, don't get me wrong he's nice to look at… but other than the fact that lack of sex is screwing with my brain's psyche I have no feelings for him whatsoever. Ken has to meet his Barbie but that definitely is not me. I just miss him. That goofy smile and that slow thought process," she laughed thinking of all the times she'd make fun of him at Constance for being slow on the uptake whenever they would quiz each other before finals.

"He's one of my best friends. My first love even," she continued. "I feel like we haven't been close, practically since the last time we dated, senior year. It was nice when he and Serena were together, I saw him more. Now with the way everything is with Chuck and Serena's boy troubles… I don't want to lose him you know."

"Yeah, I guess I miss him too," Dan agreed.

"So does that mean, the bromance is back on?" she asked, eyeing him cheekily.

Dan laughed.

"We'll see."

Dan and Blair finished off the rest of the box of macaroons, Blair stating that she wasn't going to be eating for a week because of it. They cleaned up the living room and the kitchen, engaging in witty banter and sarcasm as usual.

Dan spied the clock that sat next to the oven. 4:30 AM.

"Hey, so it's kinda late, you can stay, if you want. You know, save you a cab ride, and trip over the bridge," he offered slightly yawning.

But she was already grabbing her coat and bag.

"No, it's okay. I've got a class in the afternoon and if I don't come home soon, Dorota will be in my closet all night," she replied as she made her way to the door.

Dan walked her to the door and opened it for her, following after her and shutting it behind him.

"What?" he asked, bewildered as they both went down the steps of his apartment building

Blair reached the sidewalk, put her arm up to hail a cab, and turned to face him.

"Don't ask. Besides, tonight, I think I need to go to bed in my fifteen hundred thread count Egyptian cotton sheets," she said giving a teasing smile.

Suddenly a yellow cab reached them, sliding into the corner of the sidewalk

"Oh, you seemed to like mine just fine," he responded, giving her his own teasing smile.

Blair opened the door to the cab, and turned to him.

"Goodnight, Humphrey," she said rolling her eyes.

"Goodnight, Waldorf," he replied, closing the cab door.

He watched as the cab drove a way, turning into a tiny speck as it drove further into the street. When he couldn't see it anymore, he made his way back up the steps to the loft, sleep finally awaiting him.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note**: Hey Guys! It's been a long, _long_ time and I apologize for that. But if I can be honest for a moment, the last couple of months my family and I have been going through hard times so I hadn't found it in me to write much. My ant had to recently terminate her pregnancy after going through so much just to get there, which is one of the unfortunate things my family is trying to get through together.

So, I'm still comitted to this story, however chapters are probably going to be updated in random spurts from here on out. I appreciate all those asking about the story in my absence though, I had no idea how many people were actually invested in this story, _it definitely cheered me up a bit_ :) Anywho, here it is, **please review and let me know your thoughts**, it's been awhile, I'm not sure if I've still got it, also they do brighten up my day, so thankyou to all who have :)

* * *

><p>"Humphrey, you need to get other friends," Blair Waldorf spoke as she lazily shifted her cell phone from her ear to her shoulder.<p>

"What? I have plenty of friends," Dan Humphrey spat back.

Blair began to pace across her bedroom floor.

"Books are not friends."

"Oh, witty, Waldorf. Why don't I get off the phone and hang out with my _other _friends - that I indeed have, because they're not too _busy _to make the effort to spend time with me."

"Tell _Proust_ and _Floubert_ I said hello."

Dan rolled his eyes as he propped himself against the headboard of his bed.

It had been three weeks since they had the now "infamous" movie night with the "incident" that Dan was never aloud to speak of. Since then both Dan and Blair had been pretty busy with school, especially Blair as she was putting in the extra effort to pass all her classes with flying colors now that the quarter was nearing its end and spring vacation was around the corner.

Though they hadn't seen each other since that night, they still kept in constant contact in the forms of four hour phone calls, spontaneous text messages and the occasional video chat a-la Skype.

This night was no different than any other. It was a ten o'clock on a Wednesday and Blair had just come back from an afternoon-turned-night study session at the library. The second she was home and settled, she pressed speed dial number four and started to alphabetize her DVD collection.

"You know you can't keep avoiding me, Waldorf."

"Hardly, Humphrey. Unless _you _wanted to finish my thesis on why the works of Eleanor Hallowell Abbot paved the way for future female authors for my Women's Literature class, I think the sacrifice of spending time with you and Cedric were for the greater good."

"You have me there. But tomorrow is Thursday, which means it'll be movie night and you can't possibly bail on me for the _fourth _time. "

"I suppose not…"

Okay. So she wasn't exactly _avoiding _him. She was busy. However, calling the last movie night they had "awkward" was beyond an understatement. They were friends, but she couldn't deny that it made things … different.

On the one hand, it turned out to be a surprising positive. It actually helped them become closer and more open with each other. She felt it was becoming easier to "let her hair down" so to speak. Once she got over the embarrassment of it all. Though, it also just increased the weirdness she had been feeling for the last two months.

Her dreams were suddenly extending themselves to _thoughts_. What it could be like to be with a Humphrey. Sexually.

But in the end she just chalked it up to curiosity.

"What are you in the mood for?"

"Huh? What?" she asked, his voice interrupting her thoughts.

"What movie are you in the mood for?" Dan asked slowly.

"Oh. I don't know, you pick."

"Okay, but I must warn you it might involve Christopher Walken."

" He's not at all overated."

"I sense sarcasm."

"You're spidey senses are correct."

"Wow, a spiderman reference. You _have_ been hanging out with me too much. Maybe this break from each other was necessary."

Blair laughed.

"Absolutely necessary."

A knock sounded from Blair's door and a familiar leggy blonde made her way through it's frame.

"Hey, B. You busy?" Serena asked as she plopped herself on her bed.

Dan could hear her entrance on the other end.

"Let me guess… Serena?"

"Uh-huh." She replied nodding her head.

Serena looked at her curiously.

"I gotta go, but we can discuss the details tomorrow," Blair spoke into the phone's receiver.

Blair clicked the phone's off button and turned around to face Serena.

"Well, if it isn't the ghost of best friend's past," Blair remarked pointedly.

Serena grimaced.

"I know, I-"

"Fell off the entire planet?" Blair finished for her.

"Something like that."

Serena hung her head low, wringing her hands together.

Blair made her way over to the bed where Serena sat and stood in front of her.

"So, how was your big romantic weekend in the woods? Did you have fun making s'mores around the camp fire after catching your breakfast and milking a goat?" Blair asked crossing her arms.

"Blair, it's Cece's cabin, in _Santa Barbara_. Not Little House On The Prairie."

Blair only rolled her eyes.

"And… it never ended up happening so, I wouldn't know." the blonde replied solemnly.

"Wait, you never ended up going? How come?" the brunette questioned, surprised.

"Work. Part of the terms of Ben's parole is for him to be able to show that he is capable of providing for himself and he's been picking up extra cater waiter shifts which has a lot of events on the weekend and I've been busy during the week with school so…"

Blair's face softened at her sullen form.

"Hey, cheer up S," she moved to the open space beside her friend and sat down, putting an arm around the blonde's shoulder, hugging her close.

"I know it's stupid, and it's really not a big deal, but because of everything that happened with my mom and our past at boarding school… I just really need this relationship to work. I'm tired of being… a failure."

Blair turned her head slightly to meet her gaze.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm a failure when it comes to relationships. I somehow seem to make the same mistake every time, just a different boy. You know I'm right B, look at my track record."

Blair tried not to wince. "Well, I don't know if fail is the word to use exactly –"

"The three most important relationships I've had, I managed to ruin them all."

"No, you didn't. All those relationships served their purpose, you did _not_ ruin them. Things happen for a reason Serena," Blair tried to reassure her.

Serena gave a weak smile as she felt Blair's fingertips brush her hair behind her ear and dab at the start of tears forming the rims of her eyes.

"I want to believe that, I do. But all I keep doing is sabotaging myself. I did it with Nate, with Carter, and… Dan. Oh God, Dan. I've been so horrible to him over the years. "

Blair bit her lip at the mention of Dan.

"And all those times, I – I really didn't mean to be. It wasn't intentional. Atleast, at the time I didn't think so. Maybe it was…," she trailed off, deep in thought.

Blair pursed her lips, but didn't say a word.

"Regardless, he didn't deserve any of it. He's the last person that needs to be jerked around," she continued. "You know, I never even apologized to him and Nate about last summer, about this past year. I've just… avoided them. God, they must hate me."

"Nobody hates you. Nate has been one of your best friends forever and Dan Humphrey will always worship the ground that you walk on. Besides, it's not too late. You can still apologize; no matter the timing I'm sure they'll appreciate it. They still care, S, we _all_ still care," Blair replied, softly.

Serena gave her hand a squeeze.

"Thank you, B. I think I just need to take a step back and look at my priorities and make things right where I need to. "

"Wow. That's uncharacteristically grown up of you S. I'm impressed."

Serena laughed. "Well, I figure it has to happen sometime. Why not now."

Blair smiled at her before her grin turned into an effortless chuckle.

"Come here," the brunette motioned, as she proceeded to wrap her best friend in a hug.

"My relationship with you is one of the most important relationships I have, and despite our colored pasts you've yet to do anything that could diminish this. Not even Nate Archibald. "

Serena erupted into a teary eyed giggle.

"I love you, no matter what, you know that right?"

"I do. I love you, B. Always," Serena replied, her voice softening.

Blair pulled away as Serena let out a tired breath.

"Hey, so, I feel like these last couple months I've been somewhat distracted –"

"You have," Blair stated, matter-of-factually.

"And I want to make up for that. Let's have a girls day. We can go shopping, lunch, go to MOMA , whatever you want. As long as I'm with you, I don't care what we do," Serena smiled brightly, hoping Blair could see that she was sincerely trying to make an effort

"I'd like that," Blair said, standing and making her way over to her vanity.

"Great! What are you doing right now? We could go eat at _Sfoglia," _ Serena suggested, sliding off the bed and making her way to where her friend stood.

Blair picked up her make-up brush and leaned forward into the mirror, sweeping it over the apples of her cheeks.

"I'd really love to, but I already have a standing lunch date to attend."

Serena stepped in front of the mirror next to Blair, picking up the brush after the brunette set it down, applying it to her own cheek.

"_Oooh, _a date," Serena sing-song-ed, bumping Blair's hip with her side playfully.

"It's not a _date_; it's a lunch date," Blair replied simply. She went across the room to grab her purse, stuffing her cell phone into its front pocket.

"Fine, okay. How about we start our girls day afterwards?" the blonde suggested

"That's doable," Blair replied checking herself in the mirror one last time.

"So, is this lunch date with anyone I'd be familiar with?" Serena asked leaning back against the vanity, facing her.

Blair sent her a playful smirk before making her way over to the door, then stopping halfway through to turn her head back. "Wouldn't you like to know."

* * *

><p>Blair made her way up the brown stone steps to <em>The Bentley<em>, entering the rooftop deck in a hurry. It was particularly sunny for a Wednesday afternoon and the heat was working its way through her silk blouse. Wiping away the small beads of sweat starting to form on the back of her neck, she waded through the small patch of tables.

Anxious to sit herself down and devour the cold drink she knew would be waiting for her, she bypassed the oncoming waiter, signaling that she had found her party. As soon as she reached her table she paused for dramatic effect, motioning to the chair in front of her.

"What, you're not going to pull out my chair?"

The man on the opposite end of the table put down the newspaper he was holding and quirked up an eyebrow.

"This coming from the woman who's almost -" he took a glance at his wrist. "Forty minutes late. Apparently a man can never leave Blair Waldorf waiting, but Blair Waldorf can keep a man waiting as long as she likes."

"If you understand, there really shouldn't even be the slightest trace of surprise in your tone." she stated, as she pulled out her chair and took a seat.

The figure in front of her only laughed.

Once seated, she went straight for the glass of water that was facing her.

"Thirsty?"

"Unless you've built up immunity to the sun, you're sitting in the same one hundred degree weather that I am."

The man only shrugged taking a sip of his own water.

The waiter from earlier walked over to their table setting down a salad and pastries next to Blair's glass.

"Enjoy," he said after placing an omelet and crepes on the opposite end.

"Thank you," the brunette haired boy replied from across the table.

Blair's face softened as she glanced down at her plate then back up to the familiar face in front of her.

"You ordered me a _Waldorf _salad?" Blair asked, the beginnings of a smile forming at the corners of her mouth.

"Of course, I _know _you," he replied simply, unfolding a cloth napkin with his hands.

"You do," she agreed, smiling.

Blair untucked her own napkin before draping it over her lap. She took a good sip of her water before relaxing her shoulders and giving a tired sigh.

She leaned back into her chair and smiled.

"Hi, Nate."

"Hi, Blair."

"I kind of forgot to do that huh?" Blair asked in a tiny voice.

"You did," Nate smiled in return.

She reached for her fork and delicately tore a piece of her chocolate croissant and carefully took it into her mouth.

"I haven't had a _Waldorf_ since I was probably fifteen," Blair mused as she hooked a piece of lettuce onto her fork.

"Yes, I remember on our first date, you saw it on the menu and had to have it because even the restaurant knew how important you were seeing as they named a salad _specifically _after you," he said, rolling his eyes playfully.

"I was an inspiration even at eleven years old."

Nate took a bite of his omelet.

"That wasn't our first date by the way," Blair spoke nonchalantly.

Nate glanced over in mid chew.

"Oh? Enlighten me then," Nate inquired with mock curiosity.

Blair took a moment to swallow.

"First grade. You had accidently tripped Serena at the park and in order to keep her from crying you picked a handful of flowers to say you're sorry. She turned to you and introduced herself, all fluttery eyelashes and blonde hair, being basically everything we know of the Serena today. Then she said, 'And this is my best friend Blair Waldorf!' and you took one of those flowers and gave it to me. You asked me if I wanted to split your peanut butter and jelly sandwich with you in the sandbox. "

Nate grinned, now remembering.

"You were the first boy to ever snub Serena Van Der woodsen and the first boy to ever _look at me_. And I fell in love with you," she finished, wistfully.

Nate softened slightly, a small smile on his face.

A chime sounded from below the table.

Blair looked down at her feet.

"Sorry, there's a project I'm working on for my Women's literature class, my partner is absolutely useless without me, I told her to text me if there was a code blue," she explained grabbing for her bag.

Sitting it on her lap she dug into the front compartment and retrieved her phone. Nate watched her as she read the text, her face falling before heavily rolling her eyes.

"Project?" Nate asked curious.

She sighed.

"No," she replied simply before slipping her phone back into her bag and returning back to her salad without a word.

Nate stared as she practically stabbed her lettuce.

"Okay… so are you going to tell me why you're performing surgery on your salad or?"

Blair put her utensils down.

"It's nothing," she denied.

"Are you sure? Because that eye roll could probably make it into the Guinness Book Of World Records," he teased.

Blair sighed and reclaimed her phone.

Clearing her throat, she brought it up to her eye line. "Text from Serena, 'Sorry B. Ben got out of work early and is free for the rest of the day. Rain check on our girls day? You're the best, S.' "

Blair tossed her phone to the side of her plate and scoffed.

Nate gave her a sympathetic look.

"Seriously, _just _before I came here we had this big talk about her growing up and repairing her relationships and - I know Serena _always _has some big revelation about herself and how she's going to change and grow up but usually always retreats back to her Serenai_sms_. But this time, I don't know. I guess I believed it," Blair confessed, feeling stupid.

"Been there," Nate replied as he tossed his napkin on top of his plate.

"Really, what is with her and men? If her mission statement is to date every ineligible bachelor in _all _the boroughs, she's halfway there."

"Well I could give you the long explanation. But if you want the short explanation; daddy issues," Nate stated, honestly.

Blair arched her eyebrows.

"What? I'm perceptive. It's not like you weren't thinking it," he defended.

"Sais the boy who helped contribute to those daddy issues by being boyfriend number two hundred and eight," Blair responded, crossing her legs.

"Ouch," Nate replied, pretending to feel wounded.

Blair just shrugged.

"Okay, even though I was aware of Serena's issues, I still loved her."

Nate fiddled with his watch before going further.

"I think I just really wanted to be _that guy_ for her, you know. Finally be that guy that she deserves. I wanted to show her how much I really did care and that she didn't need to go through guy to guy anymore because she found her way to me. And it didn't matter how much her dad couldn't see how special she was, _I _thought she was special. And that I really did love her, I think I loved her ever since…" Nate trailed off, forgetting for a moment who was speaking to.

"Ever since the Shepard wedding?" Blair continued for him. "It's okay Nate. You could say it. So much has happened since then… _that _seems like a thousand years ago."

"Yeah, well, a long time ago or not, apparently it wasn't enough for Serena seeing as she felt the need to run back to Dan again. Complicating our already complicated relationship. I really wanted to make it work."

Blair looked on at him sweetly. "Why is it always the pretty ones that have the hero complex?"

Nate smirked. "I don't know, but in doing so I just got burned. Not to mention it threw a wrench in my friendship with Dan," he finished.

Blair twirled her glass around in her hand, swishing around the last reminisce of melted ice.

"Speaking of Humphrey, how are you guys? Have you recovered from all that?"

"Not exactly. It's weird between us. I mean, I'm over it, it's just neither one of us has made the step to bury the hatchet. "

"Why don't you call him up?" Blair asked curious.

"He cheated with _my _girlfriend. Why am I the one calling him?"

Blair rolled her eyes.

"Because you _obviously_ miss him and Humphrey is probably wallowing in self-pity over the fact that he did one bad thing in his whole life and it resulted in breaking up one of his best friend's relationships. Not to mention his former best friend was a girl so the whole bromance thing is completely out of his element. He probably doesn't even know where to begin."

Nate stared at her before leaning back into his chair and giving a shrug.

"You're probably right. Besides, I could use another friend right about now," he sighed

"Chuck still icing you over the whole Raina thing?"

"Let's just say things are a little frosty over at the Empire."

Blair shook her head.

"I don't understand, I mean they got back together didn't they? How could he possibly still be mad? I know there's a code or _whatever_ but honestly, that went out the window a long time ago, _for all of us_. It's not like he hasn't done anything similar to you. I mean, hello?" she replied, gesturing to herself.

"He's not really seeing it that way unfortunately. Which makes living with him the most awkward thing on the planet. Every morning I have to make sure I'm out of the suite before eight just so I don't accidently run into him and Raina having breakfast."

"So, she's spending the night a lot then?" Blair asked slightly interested.

"Oh, sorry Blair. I didn't mean to –"

"No, I didn't mean it like that," she cut him off. "I'm happy if he's moving on."

Nate leaned forward and looked across the table.

"Are _you_ moving on? I mean, I know how you felt when him and Raina got together the first time. "

"I'll admit, at first, I was surprised. But it was inevitable that Chuck would feel the way he felt about me with someone else. Besides I already had a slight test run with Eva. Atleast this time he's with someone he doesn't have to pay nine ninety five by the hour."

"You know he'll never feel _exactly _the way he felt about you with someone else."

"Well, regardless, I'm kind of making it a point to keep my distance. For his sake and mine. Some space will be good. Maybe one day we'll get back to how we used to be."

"If we did, I'm sure you and Chuck will in time," he reassured her.

Blair smiled.

"We did, didn't we? Everything seemed so messy back then…" she trailed off.

Nate chuckled. "It was."

"Serena and Chuck are hypocrites you know. You and I were like the William and Kate of the Upper East Side. They should be lucky that all they got was a year in boarding school and slightly bruised face for messing with us," she said, frown lines appearing on her forehead.

"Slightly bruised? I think I did a _little _more damage than that," he frowned.

"At this rate Hallmark should just make us our own personalized memo cards; Just thought I'd let you know, I'm sleeping with your ex. PS. I get it now, Xoxo," she continued, ignoring him.

"His face was red for _at least_ a week," Nate spoke, mainly to himself.

"Give it up Nathaniel, your ego is starting to become slightly bruised."

Nate sighed, smiling.

"So, not that I don't enjoy our time together catching up, but… what do you want Blair?" he asked semi-accusingly.

Blair dramatically scoffed.

"Excuse you, Nate Archibald. Can't a friend ask another friend to lunch without there being any strings attached?"

"A _friend _can, Blair Waldorf on the other hand…"

"I just- I missed us. I miss everyone. With everything that has happened between me and Chuck and now with Serena and her boyfriends of the moment, I just, I didn't want to lose you too."

Nate glanced back at her tentatively.

"You didn't lose us, _you're not going_ to lose us."

Blair fixed him with a pointed look.

"Seriously, Blair, look at everything we've been through. We've survived love triangles with our best friends, Bart's death, drug overdoses, being traded for a hotel, baby scares, five of Lily's weddings, _Georgina Sparks_. There's nothing we haven't been through and can't continue to get through together, _all of us_."

Blair shook her head, dismissing it.

"But, with Chuck. It's different. I don't know if we can ever recover from last year. And even with you and Serena it's not the same."

"Blair, I know things with you and Chuck got pretty heavy for a while, but I promise you, one day you'll be able to get beyond that. You both will. It's not going to be tomorrow, and it might take longer than desired but one day, for both of you, it'll just be the past."

"And you and Serena?" Blair asked quietly.

Nate drew in a breath.

"The thing about Serena, I think sometimes she takes people for granted without ever really meaning to. Like with me and Dan. The difference between me and him, I think, is that I'll always be there for her – but I let her know with my actions, that it's a _choice_, not because I can't help myself but be."

Blair sat and pondered that for a moment.

"You think Humphrey can't help himself but always be there for Serena whenever she needs?"

"Not necessarily, but has he really let her know otherwise?"

She had to agree. Nate wasn't the only one with a hero complex.

"I love Serena, and I always will but I know what I have to do for myself. I'm her friend but I'm keeping my distance for now because as much as I care, I'm not about to be another guy she walks all over. Intentional or not."

"So, where does that leave the four of us?" Blair asked.

"How we'll always be. No matter what happens, the four of us, we're a team. We get through the good times and bad. When it really comes down to it, you know that Chuck, Serena, and I would be there for you _in a second_. Forget your past with Chuck, forget my past with Serena. At the end of the day it doesn't matter. If Serena needs me, I'm there, regardless of what we've been through. Me and Chuck, we've had our differences but, he's like a brother to me."

Nate grabbed her hand from across the table.

"You, Chuck, and Serena are my _family_, and always have been. Nothing is going to change that," he ended, firmly.

She looked at him, touched, a tear threatening to stream its way down her cheek.

"Oh, Nate," she started sweetly.

He gave her hand a squeeze and smiled.

"You do realize that you've slept with half your _family _though right?" Blair badgered him.

He let out a chuckle of surprise before shaking his head.

"Oh, Blair. Don't ever change," he chirped, as he got out his wallet to pay the tab.

* * *

><p>The elevator chimed to the Van Der woodsen floor before Dan Humphrey found himself wandering into an empty apartment.<p>

"Hello? Anybody home?"

He looked around finding the kitchen bare, though faintly smelling of waffles so he knew humanity had been there not too long ago. Though unfortunately, there didn't seem to be any evidence of there being leftovers.

"Daniel, what a nice surprise."

The voice of his step-mother floated through the room as she made her way over to him from the downstairs hall.

"Lily, hey," he greeted her as she kissed his cheeks and patted his arm.

"Not that I'm not glad to see you, I just thought… well, I thought that maybe you might've been someone else."

Dan gave her a sympathetic smile.

"I'm sure she'll come around, eventually," he spoke in a low tone.

Lily sent him a genuine smile before shaking her head. "Well, regardless, it's good to see you," she replied with a warm smile.

She walked over to her desk, Dan following shortly behind her.

"So, Rufus is actually out at the moment, he's supervising a session down at the studio but I can give him a message if you'd like?"

"Well, I was hoping I'd be able to catch him, but I'm actually here to see Eric."

Lily looked up from the piles of envelopes she was treading through. "Oh, of course, he's right upstairs."

"Great. Thanks."

Dan took to the marble steps, one by one before making a sharp right and arriving at his intended destination.

"Knock, knock," he sang, before further opening the already slightly ajar door.

The dark haired boy he recently had come to think of as a brother looked up from the pile of books that surrounded his desk and smiled.

"Hey, I was just about to go over to the loft," he said, closing the book in hand.

"Oh really?"

Eric walked over to his closet and grabbed a jacket. "Yeah, I'm in need of a study break. The funny thing about Constance is even after you've already gotten into college they still feel it necessary to load you up with all the homework. But I'm sure you already knew that one."

Dan laughed as he followed after him down the steps and toward the elevator.

Forty five minutes later, Dan and Eric found themselves at _Wanton Willie_'s taking advantage of their twelve ninety nine "lunch special"

Eric glanced over at Dan, hand covering his abdomen. "Remind me not to order the shrimp next time. I think I'm having some sort of allergic reaction."

"You know a friend warned me about that, sorry buddy," Dan replied, taking a sip of his beer.

Eric shook off the queasiness he was feeling.

"So what's new with you? Anything?"

Dan shook his head. "Not really, just doing the same old, same old. School, papers, sleep, repeat."

"So you _do_ actually go to school?" Eric questioned, jokingly.

"Yep, I've got the dark circles to prove it." He took another sip.

Eric cleared his throat. "So, have you spoken to _her_?"

"If by _her_, you mean your sister, then no."

Eric took note of his tone. It seemed there was a hint of … irritation.

"Suddenly she's my _sister_ now? What happened?" the younger boy asked, intrigued.

"I haven't spoken to her, but I did see her, today actually." Another sip.

"And…?"

"And she breezed right past me and headed straight for her _boyfriend_. Not even a hello." Dan grabbed a lime from the basket across the table and squeezed it into the rim of his bottle.

"Ugh. Don't even get me started on Ben," Eric spoke, the irritation in his tone starting to match Dan's. "That whole relationship is starting to tear our family apart. She won't even speak to mom and the few times we've exchanged words it's been, love you, we'll catch up soon, I promise we'll have a brother-sister day. She's letting that whole relationship take over her life. More so than usual."

Dan shrugged.

"I guess, I just think I'm kind of done dealing with it. It was one thing when everything went down with Juliet, Vanessa, and Jenny. But now, I'm out. She _chose_… there's nothing more I can do. The guy is already living with me so, there's that. But as far as I'm concerned, Serena can do what she wants."

Eric looked at him skeptically.

"Famous last words."

Eric's phone lit up on the table, illuminating Rufus' name on the caller ID.

"Rufus, hey," he answered looking at Dan.

Dan started to play with the checkered patterned cloth that lined the table. Suddenly his phone buzzed inside his pocket.

_Good afternoon Upper East Siders, seems like love is in the air these days. After throwing in the towel with Nate Archibald it appears Raina Thorpe has taken it upon herself to rekindle the flame with a certain Bass we all know and love. Hopefully three's company in that Empire. _

_From writer's to models, to Vanderbilt's to ex con's, it seems Serena is loving her latest flavor of the __month__ week seeing as she can't spend a second without him. And to think, Queen B thought she was slumming it with Lonely Boy._

_Speaking of, could there be a reunion in the works? Spotted: At the Bentley Hotel rooftop deck, Nate Archibald and Blair Waldorf breaking bread and reminiscing over old times. Could the OG Queen and King be reconsidering their royal courtship? Uh-oh, S. Maybe you should watch the throne. _

_Until next, time. You know you love me, xoxo._

_Gossip Girl_

Dan shut his phone and set it back on the table and looked to Eric.

"Yeah, I'm with Dan right now actually. We're just finishing up lunch, I'll let him know then I'll head right over. Okay, see you there. Bye." Eric clicked end and turned to face Dan.

"Your dad sais hi. And now, I have to say goodbye," Eric said hurriedly.

"What's up?" Dan asked curious.

"Your dad actually had asked me to help him out with some stuff with the band. Just things around the studio, demo work, moving equipment, stuff like that. Since according to him, you've been a tad _pre-occupied _lately. His words, not mine. Not even gonna touch that one," he responded gathering his things.

Dan followed him out to the street.

"But I'll leave you with this. Don't let Serena get to you. I know you guys have all this history, but I would just let it go. She's kind of pod Serena at this point anyway. Besides, I don't know, maybe it's time for you to move on. See what else is out there? You'd be amazed at what you can find when you're not looking through Serena colored glasses."

Dan smirked as a cab reached the curb of the sidewalk.

"Lunch? Same time next week?"

"Yeah," Dan replied nodding, before he watched him jump into the cab and drive away.

* * *

><p>"Be careful! You'll burn yourself."<p>

"I think I know how to satay, Wolf Gang Puck himself gave me cooking lessons for my sixteenth birthday. Don't even try insulting my culinary expertise, Humphrey."

It was Thursday, which meant it was movie night, yet again. Though this time, Blair had found that her class for the day had been cancelled, in an effort to show Dan that she was sorry for foregoing the past three movie nights she suggested that they hang out earlier as planned and make a day of it.

She had come bustling in with bags on top of bags, on top of bags. She thought instead of ordering out, they could settle in and make their own Asian cuisine instead. It was a good idea. At the time.

"Blair, the noodles look… mushy. Why are the noodles mushy?" Dan asked, eyeing the wok that was beside him.

Blair groaned.

"Humphrey, the noodles are _not_ mushy."

"I could eat this with a spoon, instead of Pad Thai, we're going to have Thai Chicken Noodle Soup."

Blair turned to him sharply, a spatula in her hand, raised to his face.

"Could you stop talking for like, two whole minutes? The sound of your voice is making our food want to kill itself. And right now, I'm ten seconds from joining them."

"It's not my voice that that's killing them, it's probably the fact that you've overheated every dish we've attempted to create beyond recognition that they have no other choice," he said motioning to the spread that was filling up the kitchen.

Blair huffed and turned her attention back to the noodles, stirring them without any thought.

They were both silent for a moment before Dan took the spatula from her hand.

Blair scoffed loudly.

"Hey!"

"Relax," Dan said as he set the spatula down and retrieved a wooden spoon. "Here, do it with this." He handed her the spoon and walked over to the other side of the counter and took a seat on a stool. He figured a bit of space would do them some good right then, considering there was fire and sharp objects readily accessible.

They both were silent for a while, her stirring, him watching her as she guided the wooden handle.

Until, he finally broke the silence.

"So, what should I wear to the royal wedding? I could dust off the old Hugo Boss," Dan said, as he dipped some mushrooms into an orange dipping sauce.

Blair looked up at him as she continued to stir.

"What?" she asked, confused.

"You know, the original king and queen of the Upper East Side, together again."

Blair kept stirring, until her eyes landed on her phone that was sitting next to him atop the counter.

"Oh," she said simply, shaking her head.

"That was just me and Nate getting lunch. Catching up, it's been awhile."

"Did you catch him up on your most recent of sexual escapades?" he asked, teasing.

Blair stopped stirring.

"_No_," she answered pointedly.

Blair continued to stir, before stopping again.

"Why, are you _jealous_?" she asked with a heavy smirk and a kink of an eyebrow.

Dan gave her a look that clearly said _No _but decided to entertain her.

"Of _what_?" he asked popping a green bean into his mouth.

Blair kept stirring, adding in some seasoning.

"He misses you too by the way," she said licking her finger.

"Blair, stop interfering."

"I'm not," she mused, licking the base of the spoon.

Dan fixed her with an incredulous look.

"What? You came up _organically_."

Dan snorted.

"Oh really, how?"

Blair turned to the crock pot directly across from him to check on the sauce. Cradling the spoon she gathered the liquid onto the tip.

"We were discussing the _S_ word," she informed him as she lowered the spoon to his mouth so he could taste.

He deposited the spoon into his mouth, signaling that it tasted _acceptable_.

Blair licked the spoon directly after, absent mindedly.

Dan felt his mouth begin to water.

"Oh," he said, as a large gulp pulsing through his adam's apple.

"Yeah," she responded, returning back to her noodles.

"What about?" he inquired, not sure what sort of direction the conversation would turn.

Blair thought for a second before she started her sentence.

"Yesterday we had a talk about the relationships she's _ruined_."

"And I came up there? Huh," he said, finding this fascinating.

"Yeah, she really feels bad about it. Or wants to."

Blair began to twirl the spoon around, creating circles throughout the wok.

"What else did you discuss?" he asked getting up from where he sat and walking towards her.

"We talked about Chuck," she replied turning her body towards him as he approached.

"You and Serena?" he questioned, arriving at her side.

"Me and Nate."

"Oh. Chuck."

"Chuck," she repeated, slowly letting go of the spoon.

He grabbed for it, taking over her stirring duties as she just watched.

"You're favorite person," she said with fake enthusiasm and a teasing smile.

Dan gave a tiny laugh. "You mean, _your _favorite person."

Blair frowned and tried to take back the spoon, but Dan only tapped her hand away.

"No, not my favorite. At least, I think he's _starting_ not to be."

Dan looked at her with a facial expression she couldn't place.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," she responded, fiddling with the bottom of her shirt.

He continued to stir and she continued to watch, thinking to herself as her eyes traced the circular motions of his wrist.

"Dan," she murmured softly.

Dan stopped stirring and turned to face her so that they were eye to eye.

"Yeah?"

"How do you know?"

He gave her a quizzical look.

"How do you know…what?" he asked her slowly.

"How do you know that you're ready to move on? Ready to move on from somebody you loved."

Dan thought for a moment, staring down into her chocolate orbs.

He chose his words carefully.

"I think you know when, you look at them and… you don't _see it_ anymore." He shifted from his left to his right foot. "When you're seeing them and you don't _feel it_ anymore," he continued.

Blair only looked at him confused.

"I don't understand. Don't see, _what_? Feel, _what_?"

Dan took a step closer to her.

"I think, when it happens, you'll _know_."

Blair glanced down at the wok, as if the noodles somehow held the answers.

"Blair?" Dan asked after a moment.

Blair tore her eyes away from the food and found herself back at his eye line.

"I've been meaning to ask you something…" he trailed off, never leaving her gaze.

"Yes?" Blair's breath caught in her throat.

"Are you ever going to tell Serena about us, you know, being, _friends_?" Dan asked, a sudden case of shyness taking over him.

Blair's eyes snapped back to the wok, only momentarily, before settling back onto Dan's.

"I've been meaning to," Blair stated hesitantly.

Dan sighed.

"I haven't got around to it, but it's not because I'm hiding you, I swear," she reassured him, her hand automatically reaching for his arm.

Dan glanced down at her hand before she quickly, but subtly drew it back.

"I've just been so busy, and I hardly get to see her since she's always with Ben and yesterday just wasn't the right time _or_ the right conversation. And if I'm being honest, I've been pretty _annoyed_ with her lately."

"Yeah, there's a lot of that going around."

Blair straightened her posture.

"But I will tell her. I promise. I'll tell her as soon as I see her next so there's no surprises, no denials, no secrets."

"You _promise_?" Dan asked, his tone turning more serious.

Blair nodded.

"I promise, by the next movie night she will know that we're… friends. See, I said it with a straight face this time," she added playfully.

Dan rolled his eyes, a smile appearing shortly after.

Blair rolled her eyes just the same, a pleasant grin spreading across her lips.

Dan moved closer to her, smiling, not leaving her gaze.

He grabbed the wooden spoon and twirled a few noodles onto the base and held it up to her face.

She slowly let her mouth make contact and within seconds the noodles started to disappear in her mouth.

Dan set the spoon back down onto the wok as Blair processed the taste.

Blair scrunched her nose.

"It is a _little_ mushy isn't it?"

Dan chuckled and started to walk across the room towards the takeout menu drawer.

"I'll call Willie."

* * *

><p>Just an FYI, this story is <em>not<em> going to take a NAIR turn, if that's anyone's concern, I just feel that on the show they don't always have the closest friendship, which doesn't even make sense considering they dated each other since they were practically in diapers and were basically _betrothed_ at one point. So, I really wanted them to have a relationship for this fic. Also, I tried not to turn this into an '_Everybody Hates Serena_' chapter but it just became too easy after awhile lol As for the next chapters, I'm comtemplating the idea of making them shorter in order to post them more frequently. Still deciding though, but for those who've stayed with me, _it is appreciated_. **Let me know what you think! **


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